“Natural allies”

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 804-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex H. Poole ◽  
Deborah A. Garwood
Keyword(s):  
Research Question ◽  
Library Science ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Data Intensive ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Information Professionals

PurposeIn Digging into Data 3 (DID3) (2014-2016), ten funders from four countries (the USA, Canada, the UK, and the Netherlands) granted $5.1 million to 14 project teams to pursue data-intensive, interdisciplinary, and international digital humanities (DH) research. The purpose of this paper is to employ the DID3 projects as a case study to explore the following research question: what roles do librarians and archivists take on in data-intensive, interdisciplinary, and international DH projects?Design/methodology/approachParticipation was secured from 53 persons representing eleven projects. The study was conducted in the naturalistic paradigm. It is a qualitative case study involving snowball sampling, semi-structured interviews, and grounded analysis.FindingsLibrarians or archivists were involved officially in 3 of the 11 projects (27.3 percent). Perhaps more importantly, information professionals played vital unofficial roles in these projects, namely as consultants and liaisons and also as technical support. Information and library science (ILS) expertise helped DID3 researchers with issues such as visualization, rights management, and user testing. DID3 participants also suggested ways in which librarians and archivists might further support DH projects, concentrating on three key areas: curation, outreach, and ILS education. Finally, six directions for future research are suggested.Originality/valueMuch untapped potential exists for librarians and archivists to collaborate with DH scholars; a gap exists between researcher awareness and information professionals’ capacity.

The roles of captains in megaproject innovation ecosystems: the case of the Hong Kong‐Zhuhai‐Macau Bridge

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongquan Chen ◽  
Zhizhou Jin ◽  
Quanke Su ◽  
Gaoyu Yue
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Innovation Ecosystem ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Culture ◽  
Technological Adoption ◽  
Archival Documents

PurposeThe megaproject is a vital innovation ecosystem for participants engaging in technological adoption and integration to achieve project goals. The purpose of this paper is to examine how ecosystem captains build and operate a megaproject innovation ecosystem (MIE). To be more specific, we conducted an in-depth case study to identify the roles played by ecosystem captains in establishing and managing a megaproject innovation ecosystem.Design/methodology/approachBased on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge project, the data we collected range from 2010 to 2019 and include semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, and archival documents. We employed an inductive theory building approach to address our research question and analyzed our data using the coding process and Atlas.ti software.FindingsWe find that the ecosystem captains themselves are client organizations that have evolved with the ecosystem during four distinct yet inter-related phases. In addition, we find that the captains’ roles of the client organizations include two typical activities: ecosystem establishment and ecosystem collaboration. The ecosystem captains first frame problems, plan innovative activities, set rules, and select participants for the establishment of the ecosystem, and then orchestrate resources, buffer conflicts, incorporate innovative networks, and cultivate an innovation culture to create a collaborative ecosystem.Originality/valueThis study proposes a theoretical framework showing how ecosystem captains engage in MIE to manage innovative activities during different stages. It highlights the importance of captainship roles in client organizations in a megaproject.

Flood resilience in Malaysian cities: a case study of two towns in Johor state

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tej Kumar Karki
Keyword(s):  
Research Question ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Urban Flooding ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Flood Vulnerability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Land Use Regulations ◽  
Flood Disasters ◽  
Institutional Resources

Purpose This paper has carried out a case study of two flood-prone towns in Johor state, Malaysia, to understand how resilient the residents and local authorities were in dealing with the flood disasters in terms of their ability to anticipate, mobilize institutional resources, adapt and respond. Design/methodology/approach This research conducted semi-structured interviews with flood-affected residents, flood disaster managers and planners, and assessed land use regulations and institutional strengths to answer the research question. Findings The results showed that the residents’ anticipatory capacity to flood risks was weak and both the human and institutional resources were insufficient in coping with and responding to urban flooding. Research limitations/implications This research has not carried out questionnaire survey of large number of residents. It is based on semi-structured interview of ten residents in two Malaysian cities. Practical implications The insights drawn from this research would help develop flood-resilient policies for Malaysian cities. The global communities exposed to flood disasters too benefit from the Malaysia’s minute but crucial human and institutional experiences in urban flooding. Social implications Being resilient to all these small but important flood concerns has huge potential to reduce vulnerability and disaster risks and protect the lives and properties of flood affected urban residents. Originality/value The research focus in Malaysia is less on flood resilience and more on flood modeling and hydrology analysis. In this sense, this research is new because it talks more on flood vulnerability and resilience issues at the community level and gives a perspective on current Malaysian town's state of flood resilience culture and practices.

The politics of coaching assistant principals: exploring principal control

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad R. Lochmiller ◽  
Jennifer R Karnopp
Keyword(s):  
Assistant Principals ◽  
Leadership Coaching ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Leadership Responsibilities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Settings ◽  
Coaching Relationship ◽  
Administrative Teams ◽  
The Usa

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how school principals influenced or controlled leadership coaches working with assistant principals in urban secondary schools. Design/methodology/approach – This longitudinal qualitative case study drew upon semi-structured interviews and program documents obtained from participants in a university-based leadership coaching program across three academic years. The study included 22 total participants, including ten assistant principals, nine leadership coaches, and three program staff. Findings – A thematic analysis of the data produced three themes. First, principals controlled coaches’ work with assistant principals both directly and indirectly. Second, the extent of principal control influenced how coaches developed a confidential relationship with the assistant principals and what strategies they used to preserve the confidential nature of the coaching relationship. Third, the focus of the coaching support evolved in response to the assignment of responsibilities and duties to the assistant principals, which were largely outside the assistant principal and leadership coach’s control. The absence of alignment between coaching priorities and leadership responsibilities frustrated coaches. Originality/value – The findings from this study make two significant empirical contributions to the literature. First, the study provides critical new insights about the extent to which politics generated by principals and administrative teams may influence the work of leadership coaches. Second, the study contributes to the sparse literature about leadership coaching for assistant principals, particularly those working in secondary school settings in the USA.

scholarly journals Entrepreneurial preparedness: an exploratory case study of Chinese private enterprises

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 351-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine L. Wang ◽  
Mohammed Rafiq ◽  
Xiaoqing Li ◽  
Yu Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Future Research ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Private Enterprises ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Exploratory Case Study ◽  
Entrepreneurial Management ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to advance the conceptualisation of entrepreneurial preparedness (EP), and study how EP occurs in new venture creation and management. Design/methodology/approach – The paper primarily draws evidence from an exploratory case study of two Chinese high-tech private enterprises operating in the healthcare industry in Beijing, following a two-stage sampling process: informal, purposive sampling; and formal, theoretical sampling. Qualitative data collected from multiple semi-structured interviews within each firm were analysed using a thematic analytical framework. Findings – The paper advances the conceptualisation of EP as a cumulative, social and purposeful learning process. Accordingly, the paper highlights the roles of experiential learning, social learning and entrepreneurial goals (both performance and learning goals) as mechanisms that enable EP in entrepreneurial management. Research limitations/implications – The findings reveal idiosyncrasies of EP in a particular context. Future research may investigate different types of entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial firms. Furthermore, this study uses triangulation of retrospective interview data with concurrent interview and secondary data. Future research may pursue concurrent longitudinal case study data to unpack real-time events in entrepreneurial management. Practical implications – The findings have practical implications for entrepreneurs and “would-be” entrepreneurs to better understand their learning needs and how they can prepare themselves for entrepreneurial challenges. Originality/value – EP as an emerging concept within the entrepreneurial learning (EL) literature requires conceptual and empirical development. The paper advances the conceptualisation of EP, supported with empirical evidence. By articulating the cumulative, social and purposeful nature of EP, the paper contributes to the understanding of the human and social dynamics of EL.

scholarly journals Tag analysis as a tool for investigating information behaviour: comparing fan-tagging on Tumblr, Archive of Our Own and Etsy

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludi Price ◽  
Lyn Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Behaviour ◽  
The Third ◽  
Fan Communities

PurposeThis article describes the third part of a three-stage study investigating the information behaviour of fans and fan communities, the first stage of which is described in the study by Price and Robinson (2017).Design/methodology/approachUsing tag analysis as a method, a comparative case study was undertaken to explore three aspects of fan information behaviour: information gatekeeping; classifying and tagging and entrepreneurship and economic activity. The case studies took place on three sites used by fans–Tumblr, Archive of Our Own (AO3) and Etsy. Supplementary semi-structured interviews with site users were used to augment the findings with qualitative data.FindingsThese showed that fans used tags in a variety of ways quite apart from classification purposes. These included tags being used on Tumblr as meta-commentary and a means of dialogue between users, as well as expressors of emotion and affect towards posts. On AO3 in particular, fans had developed a practice called “tag wrangling” to mitigate the inherent “messiness” of tagging. Evidence was also found of a “hybrid market economy” on Etsy fan stores. From the study findings, a taxonomy of fan-related tags was developed.Research limitations/implicationsFindings are limited to the tagging practices on only three sites used by fans during Spring 2016, and further research on other similar sites are recommended. Longitudinal studies of these sites would be beneficial in understanding how or whether tagging practices change over time. Testing of the fan-tag taxonomy developed in this paper is also recommended.Originality/valueThis research develops a method for using tag analysis to describe information behaviour. It also develops a fan-tag taxonomy, which may be used in future research on the tagging practices of fans, which heretofore have been a little-studied section of serious leisure information users.

100 years from now: comparing parental perspectives about supports for adults with autism in the USA and China

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-254
Author(s):  
Diana Baker ◽  
Helen McCabe ◽  
Mary Kelly ◽  
Tian Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Adults With Autism ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Adult Services ◽  
Chinese Parents ◽  
Parental Perspectives ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Findings from a comparative qualitative study with parents in the USA and China increase the understanding of experiences of adults with autism in both countries. Design/methodology/approach Semi-Structured interviews were conducted with families in the USA and in China. In total, 18 families participated in the study – 7 in the USA, 11 in China. Findings Analysis of the comparative data led to the emergence of three overarching themes, expressing both similarities and differences in experiences: 1) transition to adult services plays out differently in the two nations, 2) parent advocacy and efforts in supporting and securing services for their children are strong in both countries but are also defined by the variability in access to services and 3) due to the scarcity of adult services in their country, Chinese parents express significantly more worries about their own aging and mortality as compared with USA parents. Research limitations/implications Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed. Originality/value By examining the experiences of families of adults with autism in the USA and China, the research reveals themes that would not be visible in a single-nation study.

scholarly journals Competitive intelligence practice in liquor retailing: evidence from a longitudinal case analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (9) ◽  
pp. 997-1010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantinos Vasilios Priporas
Keyword(s):  
Business Environment ◽  
Competitive Intelligence ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Two Phases

Purpose Competitive intelligence (CI) is a vital tool for any company to survive and remain competitive in today’s hypercompetitive and uncertain business environment. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of CI in liquor retailing in the USA. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory single longitudinal case study was performed through observation and semi-structured interviews plus examining documents from secondary sources in two phases. Content analysis was used for the data analysis. Findings Regardless of the small size of the company, the owner has an active attitude toward monitoring competition by using various sources of information and converting it into intelligence for making sound decisions for both short-term and long-term competitiveness. Also, the central role of the owner in the CI process has been verified. Originality/value This study responds to calls for more case studies in the field and is the first one to explore CI in the liquor retailing ecosystem by using a longitudinal case study. In general, studies of CI in retailing are limited. It has clear value to CI practices for retailers in the USA and in general.

Full-service restaurants as learning organizations: a multiple-site case study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Boccia ◽  
Maria Cseh
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Learning Organization ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Organizational Cultures ◽  
Multiple Site ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Learning Practices ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Leadership Approaches

Purpose This study aims to explore how Watkins and Marsick’s learning organization framework was enacted in the practices, structures, and policies of non-chain US restaurants. Design/methodology/approach Data from this multiple-site case study were collected from 52 employees in three full-service restaurants from the dimensions of the learning organization questionnaire (DLOQ), focus group interviews, observations, and document collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and constant comparative analysis. Findings Interviews elucidated and confirmed DLOQ findings. Pre-shift briefings, managers’ role-modeling and restaurant-generated documentation revealed employees’ tacit learning. Continuously fostered experimentation and knowledge sharing promoted a learning culture. Experimentation differed across restaurants owing to different leadership approaches and organizational cultures. Research limitations/implications Future research with subsegments of full-service restaurants having similar leadership approaches and organizational cultures, post COVID-19, and the applicability of the DLOQ to study learning in these types of restaurants both in the USA and in other countries is recommended. Practical implications Restaurateurs should capitalize on continuous life and work experiences of employees and codify learning practices by incorporating reflections in learning in pre-shift briefings and by fostering a culture of experimentation and knowledge sharing. Originality/value This study contributes to the learning organization literature by providing the first multiple-site case study account of learning practices in non-chain, full-service restaurants.

Exploring a holistic perspective on production system improvement

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Stålberg ◽  
Anders Fundin
Keyword(s):  
Production System ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Operational Effectiveness ◽  
Current Case ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Holistic Perspective ◽  
System Improvement

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how holistic improvement work can be organized and what challenges can be observed in the process of adopting a holistic perspective on production system improvement. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative case study and a questionnaire have been carried out. Data for the case study has been collected through semi-structured interviews, archived documents and participatory observations. The questionnaire was done in order to increase the generalizability of the findings from the case study and further validate the conclusions. Findings – The improvement work at the case company is organized as a continuous improvement approach in a Lean Production system in the form of a company-specific production system (XPS), in which two other improvement approaches are incorporated. Some of the identified challenges are: the establishment of a holistic perspective on improvement opportunities; the development of a process to update the production strategy; the continuous update of the Operational Management System during the XPS implementation; aggregating measures for the improvement work and measuring the effect of improvement work. Research limitations/implications – As the current case study is limited to one case company, future research is interested in expanding to other production systems contexts for further validation. Originality/value – The present study offers an increased understanding of the integration difficulties of improvement work that many production companies face regarding operational effectiveness, and based on the findings, some implications for management are presented.

Improving risk communication and public participation through mutual understanding

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrij Umansky ◽  
Reinhold Fuhrberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Risk Communication ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Politicians

Purpose Risk communication and public participation are often hampered by conflicts and mistrust between involved actors. The present paper argues that these problems can be addressed through better mutual understanding. This argument is founded on the conceptualisation of risk communication as a social interaction, which is based on mutual understanding. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the relationship between conflict, mistrust and mutual misunderstanding through a case study. Design/methodology/approach The case study explores risk communication in relation to high-voltage grid extension in Germany. Conflicts and mutual understanding between involved actors are analysed with the help of the coorientation approach. In total, 16 semi-structured interviews are conducted with grid providers, local politicians and public authorities. Findings Misunderstandings are exposed between the analysed actors, which are related to mistrust and conflicts. The findings suggest that improved mutual understanding might foster more effective and mutually beneficial risk communication. Originality/value Current research fails to sufficiently explain and improve conflicts and mistrust between actors involved in risk communication and public participation. The present paper offers a novel solution by conceptualising risk communication as a social interaction and placing mutual understanding at the centre of the analysis. The paper also introduces the coorientation approach as an analytical tool. Practitioners are advised how to pursue mutual understanding. Future research is encouraged to advance the comprehension of risk communication.

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