Obtaining Resources for Improving the Finance Function: Ideas from Practice

This research investigates the question ‘How can a finance function get approval and resources for an improvement that is mainly internally oriented (within the finance function) and where the benefits will mainly be indirect in nature?’ For the finance function to make the improvements necessary to provide a high-quality service to its customers and play a pioneering role in the transformation of the organization into a permanently high-performing organization, resources for making improvements are needed, but in practice may be difficult to obtain because operations often take precedence in the allocation of resources. Existing literature provides limited information with which to answer the research question, so this study uses experts from the financial field, employing two round table discussions and a Delphi study to identify courses of action that financial experts deemed most effective for obtaining resources for improvements. Ten effective courses of action were identified that, according to the financial experts, should be applied in combination and in a particular order to be most effective in obtaining resources for improvement.

Developing A Conceptual Model that Illuminates the Dynamics of Performativity within Technological Innovation

Technological innovation is a process that involves the intertwining of social, cognitive, and material elements. The relationship among these features is non-linear, complex, and possesses the ability to transform as well as inform the configuration of markets, tools, users, and social environments. The concept of performativity can be used to explain this phenomenon. This paper identifies the performative elements present in the context of technological innovation and maps the social factors and the use of cognitive features in the innovation process. This identification explicitly addresses the entanglement of the material and social influences in the process, defines the agency of technological change, and focuses on the impact the nature of a technology has on the configuration of a market. A conceptual model of performativity in the innovation process is proposed.

A Case Study into the Motivations, Challenges and Opportunities in Crowdfunding: An Entrepreneurial Perspective

This case describes the motivation, challenges, and opportunities the founder of an innovative cycling product experienced as he attempted to use crowdfunding as a platform to establish and grow his business idea. The case begins with a brief overview of how the entrepreneur came up with the idea and the journey from product concept to product launch. The decision to crowdfund the idea is explained and the challenges and opportunities in trying to navigate the crowdfunding arena are explored; from selecting a suitable crowdfunding platform to the launch and management of the final campaign. Despite the fact the campaign failed to raise the funding target, the media coverage from the crowdfunding campaign led to a number of significant business avenues, which ultimately helped launch the product onto the marketplace. The case examines these events and closes as the entrepreneur reflects on the lessons learnt from the experience and his advice going forward to anyone considering crowdfunding.

Islamic Capital Market for Social Development: Innovating Waqf Mobile Sukuk in Sub-Saharan Africa

The use of sukuk in social development is an under-researched area, especially in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa. Although the Kenyan government has issued the world’s first mobile bond and the Indonesian government has used mobile platforms as a distribution channels for the issuances of retail sukuk, little is known about mobile sukuk and its potential from the perspective Islamic social finance. This paper aims to explore the opportunities and challenges of mobile sukuk for social development, namely perpetual waqf mobile sukuk, where the concept of waqf is combined with qard. It is anticipated that the proposed type of sukuk has the potential to be used as an Islamic social finance instrument.

Future-Proofing the Finance Function: An Empirical Approach

This paper investigates the question: How should a finance function deal with megatrends and disruptors in such a way that it can secure its sustainable performance? The existing literature contains little information on how to make the finance function ‘future-ready’ so that it can deal with its changing environment. Such changes consist mainly of threats (and some opportunities) caused by worldwide megatrends and disruptors. This gap in the current literature inhibits the ability of a finance function to prepare itself for the future. Based on a previous study of megatrends and disruptors, and using a framework for creating high-performing finance functions, this study determines the impact of megatrends and disruptors on organizations’ finance functions. The resulting impact matrix and its robustness were evaluated by two groups of finance experts. The research resulted in the development of an impact matrix and a process -- called the Futurize! Diagnosis -- that the finance function can apply in order to make itself future-ready.

The Potential Use of FinTech Developments in Takaful

Despite the increasingly important role that fintech play in the takaful industry, academic research in this area is quite limited. The overall aim of this paper it thus to explore the potential use of fintech in the Islamic insurance industry, especially in terms of its opportunities and challenges. Specifically, big data analytics and robo-advisory were explored and how takaful operators might incorporate them for better customer experience and gathering competitive intelligence. To remain competitive in a fast changing business environment, takaful operators need to identify and adopt fintech that could influence positively customer experience and optimise cost efficiency. This paper reviews the literature on big data analytics and robo-advisory, aiming to shed the light on the barriers and benefits of harnessing these technological advancements for takaful operators.

Social Construction of Institutional Complementation in Cross Sector Collaborations: An Empirical Exploration of a Public Private Partnership Case

Despite an increasing adoption of cross sector collaborative models, especially contractual Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), as an important public services delivery modality, PPPs continue to experience serious institutional gaps that challenge the course of their implementation. This paper utilizes the new institutionalism theoretical lens and draws on interview and documentary evidence from a concession-type Infrastructure Public Private Partnership Project to foreground the different mechanisms used to remedy contractual gaps that are, inadvertently, necessarily or strategically, left open by contracting partners due to the lack of sophistication in setting efficient and precise institutions at the contracting phase. The study discerns the primacy of three socially constructed institutions complementation mechanisms including (a) contract renegotiations and amendments, (b) the development of new regulatory guidelines and standards, and (c) the establishment of inclusive coordinating structures. Based on the evidence, the paper argues that when confronted by emergent and unique challenges unanticipated in the elaborate contractual provisions, there still remains viable opportunity through an ongoing, concerted, and in a collective manner for responsible actors to complement initial institutions in a way necessary to overcome challenges and stay the main cause of the partnership. Other implications relating to specific sector structures and sector regulation are highlighted along with insights for future work.

Social Construction of Institutional Complementation in Cross Sector Collaborations: An Empirical Exploration of a Public Private Partnership Case

Despite an increasing adoption of cross sector collaborative models, especially contractual Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), as an important public services delivery modality, PPPs continue to experience serious institutional gaps that challenge the course of their implementation. This paper utilizes the new institutionalism theoretical lens and draws on interview and documentary evidence from a concession-type Infrastructure Public Private Partnership Project to foreground the different mechanisms used to remedy contractual gaps that are, inadvertently, necessarily or strategically, left open by contracting partners due to the lack of sophistication in setting efficient and precise institutions at the contracting phase. The study discerns the primacy of three socially constructed institutions complementation mechanisms including (a) contract renegotiations and amendments, (b) the development of new regulatory guidelines and standards, and (c) the establishment of inclusive coordinating structures. Based on the evidence, the paper argues that when confronted by emergent and unique challenges unanticipated in the elaborate contractual provisions, there still remains viable opportunity through an ongoing, concerted, and in a collective manner for responsible actors to complement initial institutions in a way necessary to overcome challenges and stay the main cause of the partnership. Other implications relating to specific sector structures and sector regulation are highlighted along with insights for future work.

Lessons Learned by Organisations during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 caught many organisations off guard. The same is true for the academic ‘future of work’ literature, which hardly pays any attention to a disruptor like a pandemic. In the past months a catching up in the academic and especially the professional literature regarding COVID-19 could be noticed. However, this literature does not describe the actual actions organisations take to deal with the implications of COVID-19. In this article, based on a literature review a classification scheme of possible actions is drafted. Subsequently, 19 European organisations were interviewed and the actions they are undertaking are put in this classification scheme. In addition, the positive outcomes of these actions are collected as are the lessons learned by the organisations in these past months. The research results help further academic research in mapping the implications of and actions to combat disruptors like pandemics. They also help organisations prepare themselves better for the inevitable next crisis.

“It Helps if You Think of Yourself as a Radio Presenter!” A Lefebvrian Commentary on the Concerns, Conflicts and Opportunities of Online Block Teaching

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated shifts in how higher education provision is offered. In one UK institution block teaching was introduced. This way of teaching and learning has brought new challenges and opportunities for staff and students. To date, little research or theoretical discussion has investigated how this hybrid approach or differences between tutors and student can arise in the use of online teaching spaces (OTS) within a block-teaching format. The present paper focuses on the institution-wide implementation of an online block-teaching model at Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom. With a specific emphasis on observations and reflections on the experiences of undergraduate students’ and staff by one of the authors from the Department of Psychology who employed an online block teaching approach (6 weeks) from the beginning of block 1 during the academic year 2020/21. We provide a novel methodological advancement of Lefebvre’s (1991) Trialectic of Space to discuss how students and tutors jointly produce and experience learning and teaching within an online block teaching approach. Pre-existing behavioural, cognitive and emotional experiences of using online spaces, contribute to the curriculum, student-tutor and student-student dialogue. We also highlight the importance of community within an online block teaching approach. Applications of the Lefebvrian model (1991) to present pedagogical approaches along with avenues of future research are considered.