scholarly journals How ethnic cultures influence practice-based learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-197
Author(s):  
Kwok Wah Ronnie Lui ◽  
Sarojni Choy

Purpose This paper aims to report on a study that used the practice theory lens to understand how Chinese ethnic culture influences restaurant workers' learning through engagement in everyday work practices. Design/methodology/approach A multiple case study approach was used. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews and site observations. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify how workers learnt the sayings, doings and relatings in their workplaces. Findings The findings show that the ethnic culture of the participants influences and enriches their learning in practice settings such as small Chinese restaurants. Research limitations/implications The understandings presented here need to be verified through more research in different regions and nations. In addition, cross-cultural studies on other ethnic restaurants may contribute to deeper understandings of the influences of ethnic culture on practice-based learning. Social implications The research contributes to understanding the influence of ethnic culture on practice-based learning. Originality/value The understandings gained from the findings of this study form a useful basis for curriculum development and instructional design of training programmes for practice-based as well as work-integrated-learning components of vocational curriculum. Furthermore, awareness of the strengths of the ethnic culture is of interest to owner/managers of small Chinese restaurants to afford supportive learning environments for workers.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 326-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Doyle

PurposeThis paper aims to focus on how a public policy designed to address a social problem ultimately became the place brand.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a qualitative case study approach focusing on the city of Medellín, Colombia. It draws from fieldwork conducted in Medellín over 2014 and 2015, including semi-structured interviews with an array of local stakeholders.FindingsThe paper concludes that local governments should be aware that the policymaking process can become part of their branding. It also shows the importance of the continual involvement of stakeholders in the place brand process to ensure it is a sustainable brand.Originality/valueThere are limited studies which focus on how a public policy designed to address a social problem ultimately becomes the place brand. This paper shows how a public policy, social urbanism, became the branding of Medellín.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrei Bonamigo ◽  
Camila Guimarães Frech ◽  
Ana Carolina Custódio Lopes

Purpose This study aims to empirically investigate how organizations delivering services in business-to-business relations deal with the boundary paradox and knowledge asymmetry in value co-creation. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a qualitative multiple case study strategy. Datas were gathered through 13 semi-structured interviews that were then analyzed through the content analysis. Findings The authors identified three mechanisms that organizations use to deal with the boundary paradox and two strategies to handle the knowledge asymmetry. Research limitations/implications First, no opportunities were afforded to involve more participants. Second, owning to confidentiality reasons, not all organizations provided us documents to be analyzed. Practical implications The findings guide managers in balancing the use of contracts and trust in inter-firm collaborations and fostering the learning of customers. Also, insights to protect knowledge based on the paradox of openness in value co-creation. Originality/value This study’s findings address the gap in value co-creation literature concerning the lack of empirical studies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Alpenberg ◽  
Tomasz Wnuk-Pel ◽  
Philip Adamsson ◽  
Johannes Petersson

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine why and how municipal managers and CEOs for municipally owned companies use the environmental performance indicators. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach as a research design was used. In total, 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted among managers for administrative departments and municipal company CEOs. Findings This study found that the environmental performance indicators are used by department managers mainly for resource allocation, control and for teaching the employees. The CEOs of the municipal companies use the environmental indicators for communicating with external stakeholders and see the indicators primarily as marketing tools. The main reason why the environmental performance indicators are used in the municipality can be the strong demand from the local politicians to push the “green agenda,” and therefore the managers have to comply. Research limitations/implications As in any case study, generalizations from the research should be made with care, but since this is only one municipality, further research is needed to find additional evidence. Practical implications The findings of this study have a number of implications for future practice, and it is worth mentioning that clear guidelines for how the information could be made more useful for managers at the managerial level in Växjö municipality (VM) are requested for both the municipal managers and the CEOs. Social implications Overall, this study strengthens the idea that environmental performance indicators could be used to a larger extent for communicating with external stakeholders both for municipal departments and companies. Originality/value The research adds to the literature by examining different patterns of using environmental performance indicators in a unique setting – in VM, which is called “the greenest city in Europe” and is one of the “pioneers” in environmental work and extensively uses performance indicators.


2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff McCarthy ◽  
Jennifer Rowley ◽  
Catherine Jane Ashworth ◽  
Elke Pioch

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute knowledge on the issues and benefits associated with managing brand presence and relationships through social media. UK football clubs are big businesses, with committed communities of fans, so are an ideal context from which to develop an understanding of the issues and challenges facing organisations as they seek to protect and promote their brand online. Design/methodology/approach – Due to the emergent nature of social media, and the criticality of the relationships between clubs and their fans, an exploratory study using a multiple case study approach was used to gather rich insights into the phenomenon. Findings – Clubs agreed that further development of social media strategies had potential to deliver interaction and engagement, community growth and belonging, traffic flow to official web sites and commercial gain. However, in developing their social media strategies they had two key concerns. The first concern was the control of the brand presence and image in social media, and how to respond to the opportunities that social media present to fans to impact on the brand. The second concern was how to strike an appropriate balance between strategies that deliver short-term revenue, and those that build longer term brand loyalty. Originality/value – This research is the first to offer insights into the issues facing organisations when developing their social media strategy.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Ziaee Bigdeli ◽  
Kawaljeet Kapoor ◽  
Andreas Schroeder ◽  
Omid Omidvar

PurposeThis paper explains how servitization disrupts long-established internal and external boundaries of product-focused manufacturers and investigates the root causes of servitization challenges.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw from the collective experiences of 20 senior executives from ten multinational manufacturers involved in servitization, using a multiple case study approach, and employ a codebook thematic analysis technique.FindingsThe authors develop an integrative framework based on the theoretical notions of power, competency and identity boundaries to offer insights into the root causes of various servitization-related challenges.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the extant literature discusses servitization challenges, it does not examine the underlying root causes that create them in the first place. This study contributes to the extant research by establishing rational links between organisational boundaries (internal and external) and servitization challenges in the interest of building a coherent and systematically integrated body of theory that can be successfully applied and built upon by future research.Practical implicationsThis study provides a foundation for managers to recognise, anticipate and systematically manage various boundary-related challenges triggered by servitization.Originality/valueIt is one of the first studies to employ the concept of organisational boundary to understand the challenges created by servitization and to account for both internal (between different functions of the same organisation) and external boundaries (between an organisation and its external stakeholders) to establish a holistic understanding of the impacts of servitization on manufacturers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 810-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sambit Lenka ◽  
Vinit Parida ◽  
David Rönnberg Sjödin ◽  
Joakim Wincent

Purpose The dominant-view within servitization literature presupposes a progressive transition from product to service orientation. In reality, however, many manufacturing firms maintain both product and service orientations throughout their servitization journey. Using the theoretical lens of organizational ambivalence, the purpose of this paper is to explore the triggers, manifestation and consequences of these conflicting orientations. Design/methodology/approach A multiple case study method was used to analyze five large manufacturing firms that were engaged in servitization. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 respondents across different functions within these firms. Findings Servitizing firms experience organizational ambivalence during servitization because of co-existing product and service orientations. This paper provides a framework that identifies the triggers of this ambivalence, its multi-level manifestation and its consequences. These provide implications for explaining why firms struggle to implement servitization strategies due to co-existing product and services orientations. Understanding organizational ambivalence, provides opportunity to manage related challenges and can be vital to successful servitization. Originality/value Considering the theoretical concept of ambivalence could advance the understanding of the effects and implications of conflicting orientations during servitization in manufacturing firms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 730-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Lashgari ◽  
Catherine Sutton-Brady ◽  
Klaus Solberg Søilen ◽  
Pernilla Ulfvengren

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to clarify business-to-business (B2B) firms’ strategies of social media marketing communication. The study aims to explore the factors contributing to the formation and adoption of integration strategies and identify who the B2B firms target.Design/methodology/approachA multiple case study approach is used to compare four multinational corporations and their practices. Face-to-face interviews with key managers, and extensive readings and observations of the firms’ websites and social media platforms have been conducted.FindingsThe study results in a model, illustrating different processes of selection, adoption and integration involved in the development of social media communication strategy for B2B firms. Major factors involved in determining the platform type, and strategies used within different phases and processes are identified.Research limitations/implicationsAs the chosen methodology may limit generalizability, further research is encouraged to test the model within a B2B context especially within small and medium enterprises as only large multinational corporations were investigated in this study.Practical implicationsThe paper provides insight into how B2B marketers can align social media with their firms’ goals through the strategic selection of platforms to reach the targeted audience and communicate their message.Originality/valueThe study uncovers the benefits gained by B2B firms’ through interaction with individuals on social media. This is a significant contribution as the value of such interaction was previously undefined and acted as a barrier for adopting social media in some B2B firms.


2022 ◽  
pp. 504-528
Author(s):  
Muhammad Arslan

Family-owned businesses (FOBs) play an important role in the economy of a country through the creation of jobs. However, most FOBs lack strategies regarding succession planning in both developed and developing economies. This study explores the strategies that are used by FOBs to prepare future leaders. Drawing on qualitative research design, this study employed a multiple case study approach and selected 13 cases by employing a purposive sampling technique from the FOBs of Pakistan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the successors of FOBs. The findings reveal that succession planning is pivotal for the development of business and the successful transition of FOB from one generation to another. Most of the respondents fully understand the importance of succession planning for the sustainability of the business. However, in some cases, socioemotional aspects of generational succession planning require strategies that concurrently focus on successor suitability, the consensus of the family, mode of transition, leadership, and challenges faced by the FOBs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 302-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Mühlburger ◽  
Stefan Oppl ◽  
Christian Stary

Purpose Deployment of knowledge management systems (KMSs) suffers from low adoption in organizational reality that is attributed to a lack of perceivable added value for people in actual work situations. Poor task/technology fit in the process of knowledge retrieval appears to be a major factor influencing this issue. Existing research indicates a lack of re-contextualizing stored information provided by KMSs in a particular situation. Existing research in the area of organizational memory information systems (OMISs) has thoroughly examined and widely discussed the topic of re-contextualization. The purpose of this paper, thus, is to examine how KMS design can benefit from OMIS research on approaches for re-contextualization in knowledge retrieval. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines OMIS literature and inductively derives a categorization scheme for KMS according to their strategy of re-contextualizing knowledge. The authors have validated the scheme validated in a multiple case study that examines the differentiatory value of the scheme for approaches with various re-contextualization strategies. Findings The classification scheme allows a step-by-step selection of approaches for re-contextualization of information in KMS design and development derived from OMIS research. The case study has demonstrated the applicability of the developed scheme and shows that the differentiation criteria can be applied unambiguously. Research limitations/implications Because of the chosen case study approach for validation, the validation results may lack generalizability. Practical implications The scheme enables an informed selection of KMSs appropriate for a particular OMIS use case, as the scheme’s attributes serve as design rationale for a certain architecture or constellation of components. Developers can not only select from various approaches when designing re-contextualizaton but also come up with rationales for each candidate because of structured representation. Hence, stakeholders can be supported in a more informed way and design KMSs more effectively along organizational change processes. Originality/value The paper addresses an identified need for systematic characterization of KMS approaches and systems intending to meet the objectives of OMISs. As such, it allows streamlining further research in this field, as approaches can be judged according to their originality and positioned relative to each other.


2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Jalil Omar ◽  
Christopher A. Heywood

Purpose – This paper aims to explore how branding theory can be used to understand corporate real estate management's (CREM's) relationships with its customers. Specifically, the perspectives of CREM executives and customers are used to develop a statement of a CREM brand. Design/methodology/approach – A multiple case study approach from four industry sections that consist of telecommunications, logistic, retail, and education from an emerging real estate market (Malaysia) and a mature real estate market (Australia). CREM executives and CREM customers from each case were interviewed to obtain information on CREM within organisations. Findings – The findings indicate that CREM supports the business by managing organisations' strategic real estate resources as its brand. CREM executives focus more on the technicality of real estate functions, while CREM customers expect corporate real estate (CRE) to support their business functions. Research limitations/implications – A CREM brand is important to CREM relationship building with the targeted customers. Successful brand development is able to increase CREM visibility to customers and at the same time gain appreciation of its contributions to the organisations. Originality/value – This is the first study that investigates CREM from a branding perspective. The mechanism for communicating CREM contributions using branding helps to increase acceptance from the customers.


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