Building Theories for Hospitality Discipline: An Attempt to Describe and Elaborate Required Processes and Procedures

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 619-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmood A. Khan
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Theory Formation

Considering the need, the primary intent of this study is to spur contemplation related to building theories that specifically pertain to the hospitality discipline. A review of process required for theory formation is preceded with a description related to (a) developing grounded theories using empirical studies and (b) using case studies for theory development. As an outcome of the discussion, steps necessary for theory development are listed and described. Finally, as a test, properties that are vital for a strong theory are provided as a checklist.

scholarly journals A Triple Helix systems perspective of UK drug discovery and development: A systematic review of REF impact case studies

2020 ◽  
pp. 095042222096934
Author(s):  
Leonard Kelleher ◽  
Anna Zecharia
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Strategic Alliances ◽  
Triple Helix ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Innovation System ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Drug Discovery And Development

UK drug discovery and development is increasingly being shaped through a complex interaction of research, policy and practice. However, our understanding of this innovation system is partially due to the dearth of systems-level empirical studies and to simplistic conceptual approaches. This study uses a Triple Helix systems approach to illustrate how a novel database of Research Excellence Framework 2014 impact case studies may be used both to advance empirical understanding of UK drug discovery and development and for theory development. The authors refine the Triple Helix system by identifying relationships between its three components (academia, government and industry) and various social actors. The paper also make two contributions to practice, concerning the relative unimportance for impact generation of geographical clusters relative to strategic alliances, network linkages and knowledge spillovers, and the strong bias towards national and Anglo-American academic–practitioner linkages with few or no links to emerging knowledge economies.

A theory of contingent business process management

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 1291-1316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Zelt ◽  
Jan Recker ◽  
Theresa Schmiedel ◽  
Jan vom Brocke
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Process Performance ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Many researchers and practitioners suggest a contingent instead of a “one size fits all” approach in business process management (BPM). The purpose of this paper is to offer a contingency theory of BPM, which proposes contingency factors relevant to the successful management of business processes and that explains how and why these contingencies impact the relationships between process management and performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop the theory by drawing on organizational information processing theory (OIPT) and applying an information processing (IP) perspective to the process level. Findings The premise of the model is that the process management mechanisms such as documentation, standardization or monitoring must compensate for the uncertainty and equivocality of the nature of the process that has to be managed. In turn, managing through successful adaptation is a prerequisite for process performance. Research limitations/implications The theory provides a set of testable propositions that specify the relationship between process management mechanisms and process performance. The authors also discuss implications of the new theory for further theorizing and outline empirical research strategies that can be followed to enact, evaluate and extend the theory. Practical implications The theory developed in this paper allows an alternative way to describe organizational processes and supports the derivation of context-sensitive management approaches for process documentation, standardization, monitoring, execution and coordination. Originality/value The theoretical model is novel in that it provides a contextualized view on BPM that acknowledges different types of processes and suggests different mechanisms for managing these. The authors hope the paper serves as inspiration both for further theory development as well as to empirical studies that test, refute, support or otherwise augment the arguments.

The future is now: calling for a focus on temporal issues in information system research

2021 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-47
Author(s):  
Viswanath Venkatesh ◽  
Tracy Ann Sykes ◽  
Ruba Aljafari ◽  
Marshall Scott Poole
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
System Research ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information System Research ◽  
Study Designs

PurposeAs information systems (IS) phenomena continue to emerge and evolve in our ever-changing economic and social contexts, researchers need to increase their focus on time in order to enrich our theories. The purpose of this paper is to present broad suggestions for IS researchers about how they can direct some of their research efforts to consider, conceptualize and incorporate time into research endeavors and how they might be mindful about considering and specifying time-related scope conditions of their research efforts.Design/methodology/approachThe authors synthesize empirical studies and discuss three distinct yet related frameworks of time and the benefits they can provide. The authors choose two research streams that reflect dynamic economic and social contexts – namely, enterprise systems and social networks – to illustrate how time and frameworks of time can be leveraged in our theory development and research design.FindingsThe authors demonstrate that limited research in IS has incorporated a rich conceptualization and/or discussion of time. The authors build on this gap to highlight guidelines that researchers can adopt to enrich their view of time.Originality/valueGiven the dynamic nature of IS phenomena and the increased availability of longitudinal data, the authors’ suggestions aim to urge and guide IS researchers about ways in which they can incorporate time into their theory and study designs.

Empirical Research on Populations of Adaptive Individuals

2020 ◽  
pp. 141-153
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Organization Change ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Design Studies ◽  
Entire Process ◽  
Levels Of Organization ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Multiple Levels

This chapter studies how modeling supports empirical research. The benefit of integrating modeling and empirical research has long been recognized: theorists and modelers pose hypotheses that empirical researchers then design studies to test, and empirical research informs the development of new hypotheses. Such integration may be particularly valuable in frameworks that include multiple levels of organization, from individuals to populations to communities. But does working across levels of organization change the relationships of theory, modeling, and empirical research? What kinds of field and laboratory studies do we need, and at what levels of organization, to support modeling? The chapter assesses these questions. Thinking about the relation between modeling and empirical research requires one to address the entire process of model-based research, which is usefully characterized as a modeling cycle. The chapter then explores how the kind of modeling and theory development presented in this book can contribute to empirical studies and research.

EXPRESS: Consumer Self-Control and the Biological Sciences: Implications for Marketing Stakeholders

2020 ◽  
pp. 002224292098327
Author(s):  
Yanmei Zheng ◽  
Joseph W. Alba
Keyword(s):  
Biological Sciences ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Human Welfare ◽  
Lay Perspective ◽  
Lay Perspectives ◽  
Welfare Implications

The authors argue that appreciation of the biological underpinnings of human behavior can alter the beliefs and actions of multiple marketing stakeholders in ways that have immense welfare implications. However, a biological perspective often deviates from the lay perspective. The realization of improved welfare depends in part on narrowing this gap. The authors review biological evidence on self-control and report 10 empirical studies that examine lay response to biological characterizations of self-control. The authors contrast lay response with scientific understanding and then offer implications of biology—as well as the gap between the scientific and lay perspectives—for policymakers, firms, consumers, marketing educators, and scholars. The authors also identify opportunities for future research. The authors conclude that marketing scholars can and should play an active role in narrowing the gap between the scientific and lay perspectives in the service of both theory development and human welfare.

Related party transactions and separation between control and direction in business groups: the Italian case

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emiliano Di Carlo
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Business Group ◽  
Parent Company ◽  
Controlling Shareholder ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Entity ◽  
Italian Case ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Business Purpose

Purpose – Under IAS 24 a related party transaction (RPT) is a “transfer of resources, services or obligations between related parties, regardless of whether a price is charged” (IASB). The purpose of this paper is to consider the interest of the business group and the directing activity of the parent company for the interpretation of the RPT. Considering the interest of the group means to interpret the intra-group transactions not as isolated transactions, as usually done by the empirical studies, but in a wider perspective, that of the group. Design/methodology/approach – This paper builds on explanatory multiple case studies in order to answer the following research questions: why the interest of the business group and the directing activity of the subsidiaries by the parent company are important in the interpretation of RPTs. How RPTs can be interpreted in the light of the directing activity of the holding company. Findings – Dominant shareholder tends to demonstrate that the group it is not managed as a single economic entity and sometimes that subsidiaries are not really controlled. The case studies show that a regulation that imposes the transparency of the directing activity has at least two effects: the controlling shareholder finds it convenient to delegate the decision-making power and to not carry out RPTs among firms that do not present clear economic links. Thus, the transparency of the directing activity seems to be a disincentive to the establishment of a pyramidal group with expropriation purposes. Research limitations/implications – It is appropriate that the interpretation of the RPT take into account not only the disclosure of the RPT (e.g. type and nature), but also the following disclosure: the reason and the business purpose that lead to RPT; the interest of the company in engaging such transactions; and the procedures for their approval. The independence of subsidiaries directors is necessary to ensure the management autonomy of the boards, and in the case of directing activity they have to protect outsiders in the case of detrimental transactions ordered by the controlling and directing company that are not carried out in the interest of the group. Originality/value – Unlike what has been done so far by the literature on RPT, this paper considers the interest of the group to interpret the intra-group transactions and the separation between control and direction. It means do not interpret RPT as isolated transactions, as usually done by the empirical studies, but in a wider perspective, that of the group.

Servitized manufacturing firms competing through remote monitoring technology

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tonci Grubic ◽  
Joe Peppard
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Remote Monitoring ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Support Service ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Enabling Factors ◽  
Monitoring Technology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Value Propositions

Purpose – Remote monitoring technology (RMT) is widely acknowledged as an important enabler of servitisation however, there is a dearth of understanding about how RMT is used by manufacturing firms to support servitised strategies. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this important yet somewhat ignored topic in servitisation research. It attempts to address the following questions: what has constrained, and what has enabled the exploitation of RMT in the context of servitised strategies? Design/methodology/approach – The research adopts an exploratory multiple-case study design. Four in-depth descriptive case studies of companies operating in aerospace, industrial equipment, marine, and transport sectors were conducted. The collected data were analysed and synthesised, drawing out conclusions. Findings – The study describes how four manufacturers are using RMT and identifies ten factors that have enabled and constrained the realisation of expected outcomes. The enabling factors identified include: skills, experience, and knowledge; support from customers and other complementary data sources, processes, and structures; operations centres; historical data; and presence of in-house knowledge and capabilities. While the constraining factors include: defining benefits of RMT; limitations of RMT; limited understanding about true capabilities of RMT; knowledge management; and lack of alignment between services and manufacturing strategies. Research limitations/implications – While considerable attention and effort have been invested in designing and conducting the research and analysing the data from the case studies, more empirical work is required to validate and enrich findings and conclusions. For this purpose several research questions to guide further theory development in this area are formulated. Originality/value – This paper is an in-depth study examining the role of RMT in supporting servitised strategies. In particular, it explores how this technology is used in practice to support service-oriented value propositions of manufacturers and identifies the factors that are key to successfully executing this strategy. As such it qualifies as one of the first studies of this kind.

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