bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Understanding individual membership at heritage sites
Authors: Slater Alix 
Published: March 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present George Kelly's The Psychology of Personal Constructs and to discuss how Repertory Grid Technique can aid a better understanding of friends and members in an arts marketing context.Design/methodology/approachThe project is a phenomenological study drawing on Kelly's The Psychology of Personal Constructs. The author conducted 16 unstructured face‐to‐face interviews across the UK during 2007 with individuals who were friends or members of at least five heritage supporter groups as part of a larger mixed methods study. The interviews included the building of Repertory Grids.FindingsAnalysis of the Repertory Grids gives a detailed understanding of participants' perceptions of, and involvement in, heritage supporter groups. Five themes emerged from the analysis: Organization; Engagement with the Organization; Involvement; Motivation; and Relationships with other members.Practical implicationsThe paper provides a rich understanding of the portfolio of memberships that individuals have and of how they perceive and interact with them.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the arts marketing literature methodologically by illustrating how to use Repertory Grid Technique in an arts marketing context and by focusing on friends and members, whose perspectives the academic literature does not cover extensively.
The adoption of management paradigms in Finnish management research 1937‐2007
Authors: Seeck Hannele , Laakso Aino 
Published: March 2010

PurposeThis paper aims to examine when and how the main management paradigms have emerged and prevailed in Finnish management research. It seeks to offer a country‐specific case on the diffusion of management paradigms in the field of management research.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a historical study that uses quantitative content analysis as a methodology. The data consist of research proposals funded by eight of the largest Finnish funding agencies during the period 1937‐2007. The results obtained from these data are compared to the emergence and prevalence of the paradigms in Finnish academic management education, as depicted by course descriptions obtained from the study guides of eight main Finnish academic institutions that provide graduate level education in management.FindingsManagement research and management education do not seem to follow the same patterns of adopting different management paradigms. Management paradigms seem to experience upswings in their patterns of use, on average a decade earlier in management research than in education.Originality/valueAs the position of formal scientific management knowledge varies greatly across countries and historical periods, the study contributes to this line of research by giving a descriptive account of the paradigmatic development of management research schemes in Finland which can be compared and contrasted to the development of management research in other countries. The relevance of the study for management theory‐building is in contemplating the relationships between the actors creating, diffusing and using managerial knowledge.
Management paradigms in personnel magazines of the Finnish metal and forest industries
Authors: Kuokkanen Anna , Laakso Aino , Seeck Hannele 
Published: March 2010

PurposeThe paper seeks to examine the manifestation of management paradigms in personnel magazines of Finnish metal and forest industry corporations from the 1930s to recent years.Design/methodology/approachThe research data consist of articles of personnel magazines on management. The articles were analyzed by quantitative and qualitative content analysis.FindingsThe findings indicate that normative paradigms, such as industrial betterment, human relations school, and cultural theories, have been discussed in personnel magazines more than rational paradigms, although earlier studies suggest that in general rational management paradigms have been more influential in Finland. The frequent use of normative paradigms can be seen as a tool in enforcing the role of personnel journals in generating a sense of belonging and togetherness among employees. Normative paradigms are also discussed more frequently in the articles that are written from the viewpoint of the worker than those written from the viewpoint of the manager or company.Originality/valueThe study offers empirical evidence on the adoption of management paradigms in different lines of industries. It also shows that personnel magazines provide a rich and interesting source of data that could be used more frequently than has traditionally been the case.
A forgotten history
Authors: Mack Kathy S. 
Published: March 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the lessons of globalization from the standpoint of Norwegian seafarers' career experiences. An isolated and multicultural shipboard social milieu provides a unique context for examining the challenges and impacts associated with globalized work.Design/methodology/approachDescriptions of the historical contexts of globalization, Norwegian shipping and seafaring are followed by the use of on‐line qualitative methodology to access globally dispersed and mobile informants.FindingsBy studying the historical development of globalization and analyzing seafarers' accounts, the “material realities” of global impacts may be better understood.Research limitations/implicationsThe shipboard context provides scholars and practitioners with an opportunity to learn lessons about the economic/social/historical values of certain occupations. Globalization has rendered multicultural workforces both at sea and on land. Seafarers have knowledge claims about managing and working technologically advanced and diverse work environments. “Male‐only” seafarer respondents limit understanding about the availability of Norwegian women seafarers to meet the recruitment and retention challenges faced by the shipping industry.Practical implicationsThe IMO has stressed that the human element, seafarer response and cooperation, is critical to the effectiveness of global maritime security initiatives. Norwegian seafarers believe that policy‐makers tend to make decisions that reflect misguided assumptions and age‐old myths about sailors and shipboard organizational life. The paper raises awareness about the “business of seafaring”; which Tony Lane, UK seafarer turned sociologist, once argued is quite different from the “business of shipping”.Originality/valueExploration in a maritime context provides information of original value unavailable from other types of organizations.
The price is right: making workplace wellness financially sustainable
Authors: Lee S. , Blake H. , Lloyd S. 
Published: March 2010

PurposeThe public health argument for developing and maintaining workplace wellness programmes in organisations is well‐documented, particularly within the healthcare sector which aims to “set the example” for workplace health. However, workplace wellness also makes good business sense, since it is established that investing in employee health can reduce absenteeism, improve job satisfaction and productivity and enhance corporate image. Organisations often place workplace wellness low in their priorities. The purpose of this paper is to present the case for an initial resource investment and top‐level support to pump‐prime a financially sustainable, and even profitable, programme.Design/methodology/approachA discussion is presented based on academic literature and practical applications from the authors' experiences in practice.FindingsThe authors use their own in‐house scheme, “Q‐active” as a case example based in an NHS Trust setting, to demonstrate how such schemes can be developed and successfully implemented and maintained in practice. The paper presents the use of the Business Healthcheck Tool for developing a business case for such schemes.Originality/valueWorkplace wellness schemes are financially viable and can become a vital part of a large organisations' infrastructure embedded within policies and internal “health culture”.
Exploring corruption practices in public procurement of infrastructural projects in Ghana
Authors: Osei‐Tutu E. , Badu E. , Owusu‐Manu D. 
Published: March 2010

PurposeWhile corruption has long been recognized as a destructive social problem, the subject has not yet been given much attention in the literature of the management of procurement of infrastructure projects in Ghana. The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss corruption practices inherent in public procurement of infrastructural projects in Ghana with the aim of identifying corruption related challenges that must be addressed in order to actualize the expected economic gains of infrastructural projects.Design/methodology/approachDrawing extensively on existing literature and published data, the methodology adopted for the paper consisted of multi‐stage critical review of pertinent literature; review of 2007 Annual Report of the Public Procurement Authority and review of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663). The study assumes value‐laden axiological philosophy, where the values and experiences of the authors provided the basis for the discussion.FindingsConflict of interest, bribery, embezzlement, kickbacks, tender manipulation and fraud are observed corruption practices in the Ghanaian infrastructure projects delivery system. The severity of corruption practices have intensified the search for more innovative means of delivering infrastructure projects that will achieve value for money. In the pursuit to control corruption practices, this would require constitution of a sound procurement system and pro‐social equity policies that would foster good governance, corporate social responsibility, transparency, accountability, judicious public expenditure and national progress. The Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663) is observed to proffer solutions for these underlying constructs but not without challenges.Research limitations/implicationsThe nature of the research is review and explanatory without any empirical analysis to support the discussions and thus the results cannot be generalized on a broader context of public procurement practice in Ghana.Practical implicationsImplementation of sound procurement performance measurements would be imperative in the bid to curb corruption practices. The paper suggested a number of business approaches to combat corrupt practices in Ghana, which are explained in terms of political, psychological, technical, operational and retaliatory measures. In this paper, it is proposed that knowledge about and debating corruption related issues is just as important to the modern public procurement as are the abilities to creatively and logically introduce monitoring systems when planning, executing and completing projects.Originality/valueThe work is novel providing meaningful insights into conceptual basis for a detailed empirical analysis. Being a pioneering study, further research tailored to compare the extent of corruption practices in various sectors of the economy of Ghana would be novel.
A quantum‐inspired evolutionary hybrid intelligent approach for stock market prediction
Authors: de A. Araújo Ricardo 
Published: March 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a new quantum‐inspired evolutionary hybrid intelligent (QIEHI) approach, in order to overcome the random walk dilemma for stock market prediction.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed QIEHI method is inspired by the Takens' theorem and performs a quantum‐inspired evolutionary search for the minimum necessary dimension (time lags) embedded in the problem for determining the characteristic phase space that generates the financial time series phenomenon. The approach presented in this paper consists of a quantum‐inspired intelligent model composed of an artificial neural network (ANN) with a modified quantum‐inspired evolutionary algorithm (MQIEA), which is able to evolve the complete ANN architecture and parameters (pruning process), the ANN training algorithm (used to further improve the ANN parameters supplied by the MQIEA), and the most suitable time lags, to better describe the time series phenomenon.FindingsThis paper finds that, initially, the proposed QIEHI method chooses the better prediction model, then it performs a behavioral statistical test to adjust time phase distortions that appear in financial time series. Also, an experimental analysis is conducted with the proposed approach using six real‐word stock market times series, and the obtained results are discussed and compared, according to a group of relevant performance metrics, to results found with multilayer perceptron networks and the previously introduced time‐delay added evolutionary forecasting method.Originality/valueThe paper usefully demonstrates how the proposed QIEHI method chooses the best prediction model for the times series representation and performs a behavioral statistical test to adjust time phase distortions that frequently appear in financial time series.
MINandMAXoperators for trapezoidal fuzzy intervals
Authors: Megri Faycal , Boukezzoula Reda 
Published: March 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine an extension of theMINandMAXgeneral analytical expression for triangular fuzzy intervals to trapezoidal ones when Zadeh's extension principle is considered.Design/methodology/approachIn order to determine theMINandMAXanalytical expressions, the paper exhibits the conventional interval relations and their extension in fuzzy case where trapezoidal fuzzy intervals are assumed. The formalization and the justification of the so‐built analytical expressions are then detailed where mathematical mappings are proposed. The potential use of these operators in the framework of uncertain aggregation operators and ranking fuzzy intervals is shown with illustrative examples.FindingsIt is discovered that theMINandMAXoperations for fuzzy intervals can be formulated by a general analytical form.Practical implicationsThe proposed methodology can be directly applied for ranking fuzzy intervals and implementing a large class of uncertain aggregation operators, especially for two‐additive Choquet integral.Originality/valueThe originality of the proposed technique resides in exploiting the interval relations between supports and kernels to express a general and compact analyticalMINandMAXexpressions for fuzzy intervals.
Masculinisation of the public sector
Authors: Sundin Elisabeth , Tillmar Malin 
Published: March 2010

PurposeThe paper aims to explore the consequences of new public management (NPM) inspired reforms in general and outsourcing of traditional public sector responsibilities in Sweden to private organizations in particular. At centre stage are the roles of entrepreneurs, women‐owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and socially constructed paradigms of gender in this process. The paper's aim is to explore, through a local‐level case study, the currently ongoing process of gendering and regendering in a female‐dominated sector. This is done by a qualitative real‐time study of the introduction of a customer‐choice system in elder care in a Swedish municipality.Design/methodology/approachThe formal decision in Spring 2008 to introduce a “customer‐choice model” into home‐based elderly care in the municipality is the formal starting point of the research. The authors are given full access to all relevant information and informants including all questions and suggestions from the potential suppliers who were applying to be “authorized and certified suppliers”. Interviews are the main method but also written material like applications and newspaper articles and “letters to the editor” are studied.FindingsThe outcome of the changes are, from the decision‐makers point of view, disappointing. The consequences so far of the customer‐choice system, that have been examined here, can be labelled increased masculinism or even a masculinization of the elderly care sector. Whether the polarization is a presage of the process to come is too early to tell. If so, the masculinization observed in this paper extends along three dimensions: governing logic, leadership and ownership. These gender consequences are not those expected or intended by the leading local actors.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is made in an ongoing process. The politicians are making changes aiming at making better working conditions for SMEs and former employees especially women. It is therefore important to follow up what is going to happen in the future. Comparisons with other municipalities and other regimes, nationally and internationally, would also be valuable.Practical implicationsIn this case, the practical implications are, almost, the same as the research implications.Originality/valueThe real‐time research design is used focusing on what is happening in practise at the lower organizational levels of an organizational “experiment” of this kind make this paper unusual and valuable both for researchers and practioners.
Social constructionism and personal constructivism
Authors: Wilson Fiona , Tagg Stephen 
Published: March 2010

PurposeWhile the entrepreneurship and small business research literature has tended to portray women as lesser than men in identifying the differences between them, little research has looked at how gender is construed in business ownership. The purpose of this paper is to provide a new focus, examining how male and female business owners construe each other.Design/methodology/approachThe research employs George Kelly's personal construct theory and repertory grids to examine the constructs associated with male and female business owners.FindingsIt is found that there are many constructs used to describe business owners and, counter to predictions from some of the literature review, few differences between the way in which male and female business owners are construed. The paper offers explanations as to why so few differences are found.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample is limited to just one area of Britain and the businesses had all been established in the last three years. This will influence the generalizability of the findings.Originality/valueThis paper is able to offer research evidence to demonstrate that male and female business owners do not construe male and female business owners differently.
Research on entrepreneur networks
Authors: Foss Lene 
Published: March 2010

PurposeThe paper aims to clarify how a gendered analysis of entrepreneurial networks may benefit by the use of a constructionist (post‐structuralist) perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe paper makes use of a discourse analysis: first, the paper reviews a selection of empirical research articles from 1980 to 2008 on gender and networks in entrepreneurship research in order to convey the main research question, the hypotheses, the methodology and the main findings. Second, the paper identifies in a broader literature the hegemonic statements that characterize the discourse of gender and networks.FindingsThe main findings of the studies reviewed is that there are no major differences in the networks of female and male entrepreneurs. Research on the significance of gender for entrepreneurial success indicates that there is probably more variation within than between sex categories with regard to network activities. This may be an indication that empiricist feminism and standpoint feminism have outplayed their role as approaches to the study of gender and networks in entrepreneurial settings. The discourse analysis reveals five hegemonic statements: entrepreneurs use social networks strategically, women are disadvantaged compared to men and therefore cannot network effectively, weak ties are the source of men's success; strong ties are women's drawback and, finally, women are inherently relational.Research limitations/implicationsMethodologically, the current status of research on networks, gender and entrepreneurship demonstrates that most of the knowledge is gained through cross‐sectional surveys. Typically, the majority of studies on entrepreneurship, due to the methods chosen, does not allow for first‐hand, real and authentic experiences of entrepreneurial lives. Acknowledging the presence of the speaker can be done in various ways. Entrepreneurs may reveal their thoughts, their experience and reflections only if the relationship between the researcher and the researched is symmetrical. Narrative approaches are suggested in order to “tap” the voice – and thus the stories – of the acting entrepreneurs.Practical implicationsTheoretically, the discourse is limited by the lack of an explicit “gendered” perspective. The analysis of the texts reveals an implicit empiricist feminist approach, resulting in networks and entrepreneurship as well as gender and networks being portrayed in a very special and limited way.Originality/valueThe findings of the discursive approach to research texts on gender and entrepreneurial networks, is that the discourse is limited with regard to both theory and method. This paper has shown that the discourse in the research field is limited, and that the field needs to be challenged by other disciplinary procedures regulating what counts as knowledge.
Moving forward: institutional perspectives on gender and entrepreneurship
Authors: Ahl Helene , Nelson Teresa 
Published: March 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a re‐directed and purposeful attention to the design of research on gender and entrepreneurship moving forward.Design/methodology/approachThe paper questions the value of more studies on the men v. women binary and encourages research on the institutions supporting the gendered construction.FindingsThe paper suggests a re‐framing of gender (to include men, women, femininity, masculinity, etc.) both in topics investigated and in building the cadre of scholars engaged. It asks for discrimination of gender from biological sex in language use and believes that dialogue will be improved if the word “gender” is maintained as a socially constructed phenomenon directed at distinguishing the norms around “what women do” and “what men do”. Researchers, too, must necessarily confront personal pre‐existing ideas and language shaped by the norms and habits of one's upbringing and daily life in societies that are not acute observers of gender in action.Originality/valueThe paper assesses trends in research on gender and entrepreneurship and recommends ideas regarding new directions to create better research and application in practice, teaching, and training.