Organizational environments and adaptive response mechanisms in India

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veena Vohra
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Response ◽  
Environmental Turbulence ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Organizational Environments ◽  
Turbulent Environments ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Multiple Case

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the nature of the organizational environments of Indian business organizations and to identify the adaptive response mechanisms that organizations use to cope with their environments. This paper also examines in detail the causal texture of the organizational environments and attempts to build a conceptual model mapping adaptive responses of organizations to different types of organizational environments. Design/methodology/approach – A constructivist stance was adopted in this exploratory study to capture the perceptions of the organizational leaders through the multiple case study design to capture the features of the organizational environments and their causal texture. The multiple case study design used an embedded mixed-methods approach to collect data. Within-case analysis and cross-case analysis were conducted to draw out prominent themes across cases ordered for particular organizational environment types. The study was conducted by following construct validity, internal reliability and external validity guidelines. Findings – The study highlights and describes in detail the characteristics of the different organizational environment types in India. It is revealed that a majority of Indian organizations exist in turbulent environments. There are differences in the adaptive response mechanisms of organizations in the environment types studied. The study specially focuses on the strategies adopted by Indian organizations to adapt to turbulent environments. Practical implications – This study maps the causal texture of organizational environments in India and maps the organizational adaptive responses to the environment for greater effectiveness. This study offers various strategies to cope with turbulent organizational environments and adds to the research focus on causal texture and adaptive capacities of organizations across different types of environments. Originality/value – This study contributes to an ignored subject area of organizational environments. Managing organizations in uncertain and turbulent environments is complex, and this study provides an understanding about the various types of adaptive mechanism that are used to cope with environmental turbulence. This study also attempts to answer several questions that previous research works have raised about strategies that organizations use when they fail to cope with environmental turbulence.

scholarly journals Coordination mechanisms in the store opening process

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 482-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Sandberg
Keyword(s):  
Coordination Mechanisms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organic Growth ◽  
Effective Manner ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
A Company ◽  
Opening Process

Purpose – For many retailers organic growth through the opening of new stores is a crucial cornerstone of the business model. The purpose of this paper is to explore the store opening process conducted by retail companies. The research questions cover: first, the role and organisation of the establishment function in charge of the process; second, the activities and functions involved in the process; and third, the coordination mechanisms applied during the process. Design/methodology/approach – This research considers the store opening process as a company-wide project, managed by an establishment function, in which internal functions as well as external suppliers need to be coordinated. A multiple case study of eight retail companies is presented, focusing on the organisation of the establishment function, a mapping of the store opening process and the application of coordination mechanisms. Findings – The role and organisation of the establishment function is described and the store opening process is summarised into 11 main activities to be conducted by either the establishment function or other involved functions. During the store opening process six different coordination mechanisms are utilised, including mutual adjustments and direct supervision, as well as different types of standardisation. Originality/value – This research seeks to improve our understanding for the store opening process and how it can be managed and controlled in an effective manner.

Supply chain structures for distributing surplus food

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 865-883
Author(s):  
Caroline Sundgren
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Service Provider ◽  
Closed Loop ◽  
Food Distribution ◽  
Weak Links ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
A Chain

PurposeNew actors have emerged in the food supply chain in response to the increased awareness of food waste and the need to distribute surplus food. The purpose of this study is to analyse the different supply chain structures that have emerged to make surplus food available to consumers.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a qualitative multiple-case study of three new surplus food actors: a surplus food platform, an online retailer and a surplus food terminal. Data sources included interviews, documentary evidence and participatory observations.FindingsThree different types of actor constellations in surplus food distribution have been identified: a triad, a tetrad and a chain. Both centralised (for ambient products) and decentralised supply chain structures (for chilled products) have emerged. The analysis identified weak links amongst new actors and surplus food suppliers. The new actors have adopted the roles of connector, service provider and logistics service provider and the sub-roles of mediator, auditor and consultant.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to research on closed-loop or circular supply chains for the reuse of products in the context of surplus food distribution.

scholarly journals Participatory communication on internal social media – a dream or reality?

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 614-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vibeke Thøis Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Middle Managers ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Participatory Communication ◽  
Top Managers ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Internal Social Media

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore whether internal social media (ISM) introduces a new kind of participatory communication within organizations that is capable of influencing and moving the organization. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on two exploratory studies: a multiple case study in ten Danish organizations, and a single case study in a Danish bank. Findings The paper finds that different types of communication on ISM develop in different types of organizations. Participatory communication capable of changing the organization only develops when coworkers perceive that they have a license to critique. The paper, therefore, proposes to distinguish between three different types of communication arenas created by ISM: a quiet arena, a knowledge-sharing arena and a participatory communication arena. Research limitations/implications The research is exploratory and based on two Danish case studies and the perceptions of coworkers and social media coordinators. A deeper, summative analysis of ISM across more and various organizations in multiple countries has to confirm the findings. Originality/value The paper conceptualizes ISM as an interactive and dynamic communication arena, and proposes that the participatory communication on ISM is a co-constructed process among coworkers, middle managers and top managers.

Counter accounts of profit: outrage to action through “just” calculation

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 699-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darlene Himick ◽  
Kate Ruff
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Essential Medicines ◽  
Just World ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Access To Essential Medicines ◽  
The Uk

Purpose Profit is often moralized by activists, but scant research has carefully examined what profit is for these activists or how they use it to create a more just world. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how social movements use counter accounts of profit as tools of resistance. Design/methodology/approach A multiple case study design, informed by framing theory, is used to trace the framing of profit from activists’ counter accounts to actions they precipitated. Specifically, the study examines counter accounts of profit from the UK abolition movement, Médecines Sans Frontières access to essential medicines campaign and Brigitte Bardot Foundation’s opposition to the Canadian seal hunt, and how their framings of profit influenced change. Findings Activists reframe profit to create visibilities and bridges to the suffering of distant others. Reframing the calculation and boundary of profit is a strategy to elicit moral outrage, hope and ultimately a more just world. Through these reframings, activists in three different social movements were able to change the possibilities of who and what can be profitable, and how. Social implications The inherently incomplete nature of accounting frames give rise to accounting’s vulnerability to non-accountants to assert their views of a moral profit. Accounting therefore is both a means of control at a distance but also “emancipation at a distance.” Originality/value Scholars have asserted that accounting can be used for resistance, few studies have examined how. By examining how activists assert what profit is – and should be – the paper documents and theorizes profit as contested and highlights accounting’s emancipatory potential.

scholarly journals Strategic planning and organizational flexibility in turbulent environments

foresight ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Vecchiato
Keyword(s):  
Business Environment ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Organizational Flexibility ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Turbulent Environments ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Strategic Foresight ◽  
Learning Schools

Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to address a key issue in literature on management and foresight: the author explores how firms might cope with the increased turbulence of the business environment. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on a multiple case study of major firms of the energy and the mobile communication industries. Findings – The focus is on strategic foresight and organizational flexibility: the author introduces the concept of “boundary uncertainty” and investigates its managerial implications. Originality/value – The main contribution of this paper is to expand our understanding of environmental uncertainty and to reinvigorate the study of strategic decision making in turbulent industries. The author provides descriptive data on the foresight approaches that some of the world’s largest and most influential companies used throughout the 2000s for remaining aligned with their fast-paced environments, and thus informs the debate between the “planning” and the “learning” schools of strategic management.

Responsible management education (RME) post COVID-19: what must change in public business schools?

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-120
Author(s):  
Mohamed Mousa
Keyword(s):  
Study Design ◽  
Management Education ◽  
Business Schools ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Responsible Management ◽  
Multiple Case

PurposeThrough a multiple case study design, this article elaborates the chances of initiating and/or implementing responsible management education (RME) in Egyptian public business schools after the identification of COVID-19. In other words, this paper identifies the effect of COVID-19 on internalizing RME in the previously mentioned context.Design/methodology/approachThis is a qualitative study. The author focused on academics who work in four out of the 25 business schools in Egypt and employed a multiple-case study design (to collect his data.FindingsThe results showed that COVID-19 has not had any effect on the adoption of sustainable business education in the sample institutions. Moreover, some respondents went further and indicated that the identification of coronavirus slows down any attempt to implement RME in Egyptian public business schools. Accordingly, the author thinks that the sample business schools can implement RME post-COVID-19 if they overcome the following three types of obstacles: self-determination, contextual and national obstacles.Originality/valueThis paper contributes by filling a gap in RME, leadership and literature in the higher education sector, in which empirical studies on the effect of COVID-19 on the performance of business school have been limited until now.

scholarly journals Can “sin industries” prove their legitimacy through CSR reporting? A study of UK tobacco and gambling companies

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asahita Dhandhania ◽  
Eleanor O'Higgins
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Stakeholder Support ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the ways that sin industry companies attempt to utilise CSR reporting for legitimation.Design/methodology/approachConventional and summative content analyses were carried out on annual CSR reports in UK tobacco and gambling companies, juxtaposed against analysis of the actual behaviour of the companies, collectively and individually.FindingsThe paper concludes that there is an ongoing tension between the business of sin industry companies and their attempts to establish and maintain any legitimacy, using CSR reporting in particular ways to try to prove their credentials to society and to engage salient stakeholder support. Ultimately, they aim to give themselves the scope for strategic choice to enable survival and financial flourishing.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research on CSR on other sin industries and in other jurisdictions with different regulatory situations could shed further light on the achievement or denial of different types of legitimacy. Studying different time periods as industries change would be of value.Practical implicationsOn a practical basis, the study offers guidelines to stakeholders on the use of CSR reports from sin companies, and suggests the establishment of objective external CSR reports, overseen by accounting regulators.Social implicationsThe paper provides an overview of the role of sin industries in society, and mitigating their harms.Originality/valueThis study allowed for a comprehensive, dynamic and inclusive understanding of the interplay of CSR reporting and legitimacy by addressing conflicting interests between sin companies' social effects and inherent activities at the industry level. The methodology of multiple case study design in two sin industries combined content analysis of CSR reports, juxtaposed against analysis of behaviour in context. Previous research included the juxtaposition of actuality in analysis of only single case studies or particular issues. Thus, this research allows for a broader industry understanding. On a practical basis, the study offers guidelines to stakeholders on the use of CSR reports from sin companies, and suggests the establishment of objective external CSR reports, overseen by accounting regulators. At the social level, the paper provides an overview of sin industries in society, and mitigating their harms.

Marketing communication objectives through digital content marketing on social media

2020 ◽  
pp. 79-104
Author(s):  
Janice J. Nieves-Casasnovas ◽  
Frank Lozada-Contreras
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Brand Awareness ◽  
Digital Content ◽  
Media Content ◽  
Marketing Communication ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Content Marketing

The purpose of this study was to determine what type of marketing communication objectives are present in the digital content marketing developed by luxury auto brands with social media presence in Puerto Rico, particularly Facebook. A longitudinal multiple-case study design was used to analyze five luxury auto brands using content analysis on Facebook posts. This analysis included identification of marketing communication objectives through social media content marketing strategies, type of media content and social media metrics. Our results showed that the most used objectives are brand awareness, brand personality, and brand salience. Another significant result is that digital content marketing used by brands in social media are focused towards becoming more visible and recognized; also, reflecting human-like traits and attitudes in their social media.

Creating autonomous learners in the teaching of English as a second language (ESL) in Zimbabwean secondary schools : a reality or a myth?

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-132
Author(s):  
Rungamirai Matiure ◽  
Erick Nyoni
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Midlands Province ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Comprehensive Framework

This study explored the utility of the learner autonomy concept in the Zimbabwean O Level English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom focusing on three Gweru urban high schools of the Midlands Province. The researchers intended to establish whether learner autonomy was a reality or just a myth in Zimbabwean classrooms. A qualitative multiple case study design was applied focusing on teaching strategies, availability of resources, challenges faced and ways of optimising it. Questionnaires and document analysis were used for data collection. The findings revealed that the concept did not manifest in explicit terms, the learners did not participate in decision making, and the teachers were not adequately prepared to administer autonomous processes with students. For it to be a reality, the Education Ministry is recommended to establish a comprehensive framework of how autonomous learning should be implemented. Teacher training should explicitly focus on how to develop autonomous learners. Teachers ought to be flexible enough to accommodate learners' contributions towards their learning.

Music Therapy Intervention with Autistic Children

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-95
Author(s):  
Zuzana Vlachová
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Qualitative Empirical Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Therapy Interventions ◽  
Therapy Intervention

The paper presents a qualitative empirical research project, research design and research methods used in the preparation of a dissertation which deals with music therapy interventions in children with autism. The reason for examining this issue is a considerable lack of research activity in this area, and thus also a lack of relevant results on which clinical practice could rely. The results of future investigations should bring answers to the question of how children with autism receive and experience music therapy intervention and also what the effect of music therapy intervention in the social interaction of children is; research will be directed to a deeper understanding of this influence and its characteristics using the multiple case study design.

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