scholarly journals “The future of an illusion”: a paradoxes of CSR

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
José María González-González ◽  
Francisco D. Bretones ◽  
Rocío González-Martínez ◽  
Pedro Francés-Gómez

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the psychological strategies as well as the rhetorical and discursive arguments developed in organizations and by individuals when they have to cope with the paradoxes and changes related to CSR.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses the perspective of the paradox as an analytical framework to parse strategies developed in organizations as they cope with tensions and changes related to CSR. The authors conducted 50 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and the authors performed a qualitative analysis with the information compiled.FindingsThe main strategies for dealing with CSR paradoxes and changes consist of developing perceptual and motivational biases as well as explicative heuristic ones through which, from a discursive perspective, a coherent and conciliatory framework is presented with rhetoric that play a fundamental role in justifying CSR as a present hope over a future illusion regardless of the past reality.Originality/valueThe lesson to be drawn from the exploration is the following: managers and CSR officers need to leave behind fear, anxiety and defensive attitudes and accept the paradox by re-contextualizing the tension as a stimulus for conscious and reflexive confrontation with emotional equilibrium, this being defiantly motivating as a sensemaker. In this way, the approach to the present inconsistencies in CSR should not involve a dismissal of conflictive situations but rather the development of the capacity to transcend the tension emanating from them and to learn to manage organizations from this paradoxical reality.

Author(s):  
Silvia Gherardi

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the ten years of the journal through a personal reflection. Design/methodology/approach – A review of the articles published in the last ten years. Findings – I argue that what has distinguished QROM in these ten years are two distinctive features: reflexivity on practices of qualitative research, and openness to the application of qualitative methods to unusual research topics. Originality/value – The main limit of the paper resides in the subjectivity of the person who has read the articles. Other readers may have different opinions and may have chosen different criteria.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 809-833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Breidbach ◽  
Sunmee Choi ◽  
Benjamin Ellway ◽  
Byron W. Keating ◽  
Katerina Kormusheva ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the history and future of service operations, with the goal to identify key theoretical and technological advances, as well as fundamental themes that can help to imagine the future of service operations in 2050. Design/methodology/approach A review of the service operations literature was undertaken to inform a discussion regarding the role that technology will play in the future of service operations. Findings The future of service operations is framed in terms of three key themes – complexity, orchestration, and elasticity. The paper makes three contributions to the service science literature by: reviewing key themes underpinning extant service operations research to frame future trajectories of service operations research; elaborating a vision of service operations in 2050 based on history and technology; and outlining a research agenda for future service operations. Practical implications The case of service automation is used to provide an illustration of how the three themes converge to define future service operations, and in particular, to show how technology is recasting the role of the firm. Originality/value Service operations in the next 30 years will be very different from what it was in the past 30 years. This paper differs from other review papers by identifying three key themes that will characterize and instill new insights into the future of service operations research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-116
Author(s):  
Berendien Lubbe

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief perspective on the growth of business travel over the past 60 years and how it may unfold in the future, highlighting certain themes and noting limitations in the research. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on selected academic literature and industry sources on business travel which briefly reviews its growth and directions of research in this field. Practical implications The paper distinguishes between different types of business travel and provides a bird's eye view of the future. Originality/value The review distinguishes between different forms of business travel and concludes that greater clarity of the business travel concept will enable research to be conducted within a properly defined theoretical framework.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-175
Author(s):  
Guoqun Fu ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Xianzheng Fei

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the evolution of wedding-related consumption of urban families in China during the past 50 years. Design/methodology/approach This study used qualitative and quantitative approaches to collect and analyse data from 157 families in China. Data collection occurred through semi-structured interviews and questionnaire surveys. Findings The findings are as follows: average wedding expenses per family have increased, mainly as a result of the substantial growth of indirect wedding costs; the percentage of total wedding expenses represented by direct costs pertaining to the ritual is trending downwards; the percentage of total wedding expenses borne by the groom’s family is much higher than that borne by the bride’s family, and the gap is enlarging; the proportion of newlyweds living with parents was more than 50 per cent in the 1970s and 1980s, decreased to 10 per cent in the 1990s and began slightly increasing again after 2000. Research limitations/implications The authors used signal investment theory to explain the fact that the groom’s family bears more of the wedding expenses than the bride’s family does, but more evidences are needed to verify the theory. Originality/value This study contributes to the understanding of evolution of wedding consumption of urban families in China, as well as how social and economic factors influence wedding consumptions in different ages, an area with limited previous research. The authors also propose signal investment theory as an alternative explanation to current wedding consumption theories to justify the phenomenon.


2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 158-161
Author(s):  
Gang-Hua Chen ◽  
Songshan (Sam) Huang

Purpose This paper aims to contemplate the past development of backpacker tourism research and assess the future development of backpacker tourism research. Design/methodology/approach The authors evaluate the research on backpacker tourism in the past in the following three aspects, namely, research themes, research methods and geographical and cultural contexts of research. Findings Backpackers and backpacker tourism have been evolving in the past 75 years, just as other groups of travelers and forms of travel have. With the rapid pace of globalization in our time, backpacker tourism and its kinship forms will remain an important international tourism phenomenon, with root reasons in different types of economies and societies. As such, it will remain to be a significant research subject for tourism researchers in the future. Originality/value This paper contemplates the past development and assesses the future development of backpacker tourism research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-402
Author(s):  
Bradley Edward Roberts

Purpose Phenomenology is widely recognised for its power to generate nuanced understanding of lived experience and human existence. However, phenomenology is often made inaccessible to prospective researchers due to its specialised nomenclature and dense philosophical underpinnings. This paper explores the value of the researcher’s lived experience as a pathway into phenomenological inquiry. The purpose of this paper is to improve the accessibility of phenomenology as a method for qualitative analysis. It achieves this by aligning Husserl’s concept of phenomenological epoche, or bracketing of preconceptions, and the author’s lived experience as a practitioner of kendo, or Japanese fencing. Design/methodology/approach The paper employs the narrative vignette as a means of illuminating the intersections between kendo practice and the application of phenomenological epoche as it applies to the understanding of embodied sensemaking. Reflections on the narrative vignette identified a suite of techniques from kendo practice that were applied to a phenomenological approach for critical incident interviews. These techniques were then applied to 30 critical incident, semi-structured interviews as part of a PhD research project into embodied sensemaking. Findings The results from these interviews suggest that the kendo-derived techniques were effective in generating thick narratives from participants during semi-structured interviews. Examination of the results provided insights into the linkage between phenomenology as a continental philosophy and eastern perspectives such as those found within the Zen traditions and other aesthetic practices. Originality/value This research suggests that lived experience such as kendo practice can provide a ready-to-hand pathway to phenomenological inquiry.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Sergius Koku

Purpose This paper aims to present the author’s viewpoint on the developments in the Journal of Services Marketing (JSM) during the past 25 years of his association with the Journal. The paper documents the evolution in the Journal, highlights significant changes and makes some prognostications for the future. Design/methodology/approach The paper relies on the first-hand account of the author, which is supplemented by limited qualitative data analysis that consists of analyzing keywords and the abstract of articles published in JSM during the past 25 years. Findings The first-hand account shows that JSM has undergone changes that reflect changes that have taken place in the field of marketing. The issues/topics of manuscripts submitted and published in the Journal have become interdisciplinary and so are the analytical techniques. This expanding scope of the Journal positions it well for the future in which collaborative research will be more pervasive in the academy. Research limitations/implications This is a first-hand account with limited data analysis and therefore could suffer from the writer’s biases even though they might be unintended. Practical implications This paper documents the expanding scope of the Journal that may have been the result of explicit steps taken to make the Journal more successful in the future. Originality/value As a first-hand account, this study is original.


2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 420-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wyoma vanDuinkerken ◽  
Joanne Romano

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on the Joint Library Facility services and how Medical Science Libraries have embraced the Resource in Common model to save service copies for their patron’s use while allowing libraries to reclaim critically needed space and develop library services that better meet the needs of their patrons. Design/methodology/approach The paper begins with a description of the Joint Library Facility and its targeted users. It will discuss how this unique library storage facility shares ownership of its material with other libraries to reduce duplication of low-use print items on library shelves. Findings Although electronic materials are more popular with library patrons, there is still scholarly value in keeping low-use print materials as service copies. Originality/value This paper is a case study of a unique library storage facility that shares ownership of its material with other libraries. Its findings will help other libraries plan and implement their own shared print repository.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 77-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgenia Vassilakaki

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to discuss the challenges that the current economic crisis has posed for Greek public and municipal libraries. Design/methodology/approach – This is a viewpoint paper discussing the past, present and future directions that Greek public and municipal libraries have adopted or should adopt in the context of the present economic crisis. Findings – Greek public and municipal libraries ought to see the economic crisis as a challenge for development, improvement and the promotion of their presence and role in the community which they serve. Originality/value – The paper discusses the factors affecting the past and present situation relating to public and municipal libraries in Greece and addresses the future challenges for promoting development and innovation.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
James Higham

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the past 75 years of sports tourism and explore the potential of the next 75 years. Design/methodology/approach This is a personal perspective paper that reflects upon the emergence and development of the field of sport tourism, contemporary challenges and future pathways. Findings Research must extend to wider manifestations of sport, and sport-related tourism, in response to the growth of participation and pleasure sports and the increasingly important roles of those sports in addressing the growing social and environmental challenges of contemporary life. Originality/value This paper offers insights into the future of sports tourism.


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