Making the Case for Academic and Social Impact in Organizational Communication Research

2018 ◽  
pp. 235-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Kevin Barge
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Communication ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Engaged Scholarship ◽  
Competing Demands ◽  
Design Skills ◽  
Community Issues ◽  
Five Practices ◽  
Emergent Design

Engaged scholarship begins with the premise that academic research cannot only be rigorous, but also have social impact by addressing important organizational and community issues. A tacit assumption in much of the literature on engaged organizational communication scholarship is that we have a clear understanding of what we mean by social impact. This chapter explores how various indicators and metrics constitute the meaning of academic and social impact. I argue that there is relatively little overlap in the indicators that are currently used to assess academic and social impact and that this poses important challenges for organizational communication scholars who wish to do engaged scholarship. Five practices are offered to facilitate organizational communication scholars determine the kind of impact they wish to make and manage the challenges posed by the competing demands of demonstrating academic and social impact: (1) connect with your scholarly passion, (2) practice triple translation, (3) develop emergent design skills, (4) go big, and (5) research on the go.

Social Impact in Product Design, An Exploration of Current Industry Practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 142 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew T. Pack ◽  
Emma Rose Phipps ◽  
Christopher A. Mattson ◽  
Eric C. Dahlin
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Product Design ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Life Cycle Assessments ◽  
Government Regulations ◽  
Design Engineers ◽  
The Social

Abstract Though academic research for identifying and considering the social impact of products is emerging, additional insights can be gained from engineers who design products every day. This paper explores current practices in industries used by design engineers to consider the social impact of products. Forty-six individuals from 34 different companies were interviewed to discover what disconnects exist between academia and industry when considering a product’s social impact. These interviews were also used to discover how social impact might be considered in a design setting moving forward. This is not a study to find “the state of the art,” but considers the average engineering professional’s work to design products in various industries. Social impact assessments (SIA) and social life cycle assessments (SLCA) are two of the most common processes discussed in the literature to evaluate social impact, both generally and in products. Interestingly, these processes did not arise in any discussion in interviews, despite respondents affirming that they do consider social impact in the product design. Processes used to predict social impact, rather than simply evaluate, were discussed by the respondents. These tended to be developed within the company and often related to industry imposed government regulations. To build on this study, the findings herein should be further validated for executives, managers, and engineers. A study specific to these roles should be designed to understand the disconnect better. Additionally, processes should be developed to assist engineers in considering the social impact of their products. Work should also be done to help educate engineers and their leaders on the value of considering the social impact in product design.

A Demonstration of Symbiotic Academic-Social Enterprise in Subsistence Marketplaces: Researching and Designing Customized Sustainability Literacy Education in Tanzania

2020 ◽  
pp. 074391562096850
Author(s):  
Madhubalan Viswanathan ◽  
Sara Baskentli ◽  
Samanthika Gallage ◽  
Diane M. Martin ◽  
Maria Ramirez-Grigortsuk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Literacy Education ◽  
Learning By Doing ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Sustainability Literacy

This article demonstrates symbiotic academic-social enterprise (SASE), a bottom-up approach intertwined with the subsistence marketplace research stream. The SASE approach is unique in coevolving academic and social initiatives in parallel for the express purpose of achieving dual objectives: societally relevant research and social impact over an extended period. Distinct from typical action research approaches, the directionality between research and practice in this approach is circular or mutual rather than linear, the time frame continuous rather than discrete, and the unit of analysis the entire enterprise rather than a single project. Thus, SASE is fundamentally a bottom-up, learning-by-doing approach that developed in contexts characterized by a confluence of uncertainties for communities and a confluence of unfamiliarities for researchers and practitioners. The authors demonstrate this approach in the context of creating sustainability literacy education in Tanzania based on unique climate change impacts in the region. The academic research enterprise provides bottom-up insights about climate change and potential approaches to sustainability literacy education. A sustainability literacy education pilot project demonstrates an initiative in the social enterprise aspect of the approach. Finally, the authors derive public policy and marketing implications of SASE.

Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy Landreth Grau
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Selection Strategy ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Usable Information ◽  
Marketing Process ◽  
New Information ◽  
Enterprise Design

Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations: Insights and Innovations, Second Edition, is a comprehensive overview of the marketing process written specifically for nonprofit and social impact organizations. This book covers topics important to nonprofit professionals: branding; target audience selection; strategy; promotional tactics, including social media; and marketing evaluation. The “Insights” sections are based primarily on academic research that has been published and now translated into usable information for marketing professionals. The “Innovations” sections highlight organizations that are doing things in a different way and topics that are relatively new to the field. This second edition includes many updated examples as well as new information on several topics such as social enterprise, design thinking, collective impact, and narratives in nonprofits. Readers will find an organized, easy-to-read overview of important considerations in marketing for new and established nonprofit organizations and foundations.

Relationship between altmetric and bibliometric indicators across academic social sites in article-level: the case of Iranian researchers' “Top Papers” in clinical medicine

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Batooli ◽  
Azam Mohamadloo ◽  
Somayyeh Nadi-Ravandi
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Clinical Medicine ◽  
Citation Impact ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Scientometric Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Number Of Citations

PurposeThe study aimed to measure scientific and social impacts of Iranian researchers' “Top Papers” in clinical medicine using citation and altmetric indicators.Design/methodology/approachIn this applied descriptive-analytical study, it used scientometric analysis. A total of 166 “Top Papers” of Iranian researchers in clinical medicine category of Web of Science (WoS) database including “Highly Cited Papers” and “Hot Papers” published between 2009 and 2019 were used. Overall, 29 indicators and their data were extracted from WoS, Scopus, ResearchGate (RG) and PlumX in March 2020.FindingsThe results showed that there exists a positive correlation between the number of citations in WoS, Scopus, RG, PubMed and Crossref. In addition, it was found that there existed a positive correlation between the received citations by articles and altmetric indicators. According to the results, there is a strong correlation between RG Research Interest and citation impact. The correlation analysis on the Plum Analytics categories including “Usage”, “Capture”, “Mention”, “Social Media” and “Citation” showed the correlations between five dimensions of impact were positive and significant. The results have led the authors to think more about new metrics that can response to new developments in the new information areas.Research limitations/implicationsThere are limitations to access altmetric.com in Iran and cannot be used easily. On the other hand, because of considering 24 indicators, authors had to investigate only a sample of 166 top papers from Iranian researchers to present the detailed results. About nature of altmetric indicators, although they reflect the nonacademic impact of articles alongside bibliographic indicators, they still cannot be a complete representative of the influence of their owners.Practical implicationsThis study can indicate a practical application appropriate for the future study. It would be valuable to further examine how social academic platforms construct images of impact of research and how this impacts the social impact of the university as a mission. This study suggests that social media attention to academic research can be much greater than what is shown in traditional indicators such as citation.Originality/valueThis study examines 29 indicators from four platforms including RG, WoS, Scopus and PlumX, simultaneously and measures the relationship among them.

scholarly journals The "Other" Mexicans: Transnational Citizenship And Mexican Middle Class Migration In Toronto, Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Lujan
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Mexican Immigrants ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Citizenship Rights ◽  
Transnational Citizenship ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
Community Issues ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Policies And Practices

Mexico has one of the highest numbers of emigrants in the world (Martin, 2009) and Canada is one of the states with the highest per capita immigration rates globally (Léonard, 2011). Mexico and Canada are typical examples of immigrant and emigrant countries and both countries have developed policies and strategies that aim to foster civic participation among their immigrant and emigrant population respectively (Martin, 2009; Goldring, 2002; Barry, 2002; Li, 2002; Reitz, 2005; Bauder, 2011). In Canada, academic research on immigration has centred on the effect immigration policies and practices have on including and excluding immigrants from exercising citizenship rights but it has tended to ignore the effect emigration policies have in the development of transnational citizenship practices, such as civic engagement, political participation, social activism, and acts of solidarity that transcend the frontiers of the nation-state. This has left important questions unanswered on how transnational citizenship is developed and exercised in a migration context including: 1) which policies and practices immigrants use to exercise transnational citizenship; 2) what is the impact of transnational citizenship practices in terms of the expansion and contraction of citizenship rights in the context of migration; 3) who is included and excluded by emigration policies promoting transnational citizen engagement; and 4) how do internal community issues, conflicts, cooperation, and solidarity affect the process of transnational enacting of citizenship? I attempt to fill this research gap by studying the effects Mexican emigration policies have on promoting transnational citizenship practices among middle class Mexican immigrants in Toronto and other cities in Ontario and by showing the avenues these immigrants use in order to participate civically with Mexico and with the Mexican diaspora in Canada.

scholarly journals To Regulate or Not: A Social Dynamics Analysis of an Idealised AI Race

2020 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 881-921
Author(s):  
The Anh Han ◽  
Luis Moniz Pereira ◽  
Francisco C. Santos ◽  
Tom Lenaerts
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Regulatory Policies

Rapid technological advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), as well as the growing deployment of intelligent technologies in new application domains, have generated serious anxiety and a fear of missing out among different stake-holders, fostering a racing narrative. Whether real or not, the belief in such a race for domain supremacy through AI, can make it real simply from its consequences, as put forward by the Thomas theorem. These consequences may be negative, as racing for technological supremacy creates a complex ecology of choices that could push stake-holders to underestimate or even ignore ethical and safety procedures. As a consequence, different actors are urging to consider both the normative and social impact of these technological advancements, contemplating the use of the precautionary principle in AI innovation and research. Yet, given the breadth and depth of AI and its advances, it is difficult to assess which technology needs regulation and when. As there is no easy access to data describing this alleged AI race, theoretical models are necessary to understand its potential dynamics, allowing for the identification of when procedures need to be put in place to favour outcomes beneficial for all. We show that, next to the risks of setbacks and being reprimanded for unsafe behaviour, the time-scale in which domain supremacy can be achieved plays a crucial role. When this can be achieved in a short term, those who completely ignore the safety precautions are bound to win the race but at a cost to society, apparently requiring regulatory actions. Our analysis reveals that imposing regulations for all risk and timing conditions may not have the anticipated effect as only for specific conditions a dilemma arises between what is individually preferred and globally beneficial. Similar observations can be made for the long-term development case. Yet different from the short-term situation, conditions can be identified that require the promotion of risk-taking as opposed to compliance with safety regulations in order to improve social welfare. These results remain robust both when two or several actors are involved in the race and when collective rather than individual setbacks are produced by risk-taking behaviour. When defining codes of conduct and regulatory policies for applications of AI, a clear understanding of the time-scale of the race is thus required, as this may induce important non-trivial effects. This article is part of the special track on AI and Society.  

scholarly journals The role of diagnostics as a means of engaged scholarship and enhancing SME research

2020 ◽  
pp. 146575032096961
Author(s):  
Mark Gilman ◽  
Jacob Salder
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Diagnostic Tools ◽  
Engaged Scholarship ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Research Challenges ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Additional Approach

This paper explores the methodological challenges facing SME researchers through overdependence on quantitative methods. It proposes how a diagnostic-based form of engaged scholarship can enhance the portfolio of research tools and address existing deficits in current research methods by building on tools developed as part of a multi-determinant research process for exploring SME growth. The paper argues existing methods of SME research are insufficient to address their heterogeneous and context-dependent nature. New tools are therefore required to mitigate embedded shortcomings in terms of depth and breadth of understanding alongside impact for practice and for SMEs as active stakeholders in the research process. The design and implementation of diagnostic tools has the scope to address these deficits. The benefit of this paper is to outline an additional approach to SME research which addresses embedded issues in existing methods. It proposes a tool that addresses certain academic research challenges, but also integrates research more substantially with policy and SME requirements. In thus doing it makes a novel contribution to debates on how SME research is undertaken, to the development of methodological tools appropriate for dealing with the challenges of contemporary research, and to methodological approaches integrating research within wider networks and communities.

Between relevance and excellence? Research impact agenda and the production of policy knowledge

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 895-905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justyna Bandola-Gill
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Research Impact ◽  
Publicly Funded ◽  
Academic Knowledge ◽  
Traditional Research ◽  
Academic Practices ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract The recent moves towards incentivising ‘impact’ within the research funding system pose a growing challenge to academic research practices, charged with producing both scientific, and social impact. This article explores this tension by drawing on interviews with sixty-one UK academics and policymakers involved in publicly-funded knowledge exchange initiatives. The experiences of the interviewed academics point to a functional separation of academic practices into three distinct types: producing traditional research, translating research, and producing policy-oriented research. These three types of practices differ in terms of both the epistemic qualities of the produced knowledge and its legitimacy as valid academic work. Overall, the article argues that the relationship between relevance and excellence of research within the impact agenda is characterised by simultaneous contradiction and co-dependence, leading to hybridisation of academic knowledge production and expansion of the boundaries of policy expertise into the traditionally-academic spaces.

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