bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Networking and managers' career success in the Malaysian public sector
Authors: Mohd Rasdi Roziah , Garavan Thomas N. , Ismail Maimunah 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how managerial level moderates the relationships between networking behaviours and career success (objective and subjective) in the context of a public sector organisation in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilised a cross‐sectional design and investigated these relationships indicated on a sample of 288 managers from the Malaysian public sector.FindingsThe study found that increasing internal visibility was related to monthly income and subjective career success. Managerial level moderated the relationships between some types of networking and objective career success.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was cross‐sectional in nature and involved a sample of managers from public sector organisations. However, there is scope to longitudinally investigate the impact of specific networking behaviours on both objective and subjective career success.Practical implicationsThe study findings highlight the advantages that senior managers have in respect of networking opportunities and the importance of particular types of networking objective and subjective career success.Originality/valueThe study findings extend the knowledge of the value of networking and demonstrate that the relationships found in Western organisations also are true in Asian organisations and cultures and in public as well as private sector organisations.
Political management and local performance: a testing relationship?
Authors: Fenwick John , Johnston Miller Karen 
Published: March 2012

PurposeReform of local political management continues to be part of the international agenda for change as governments seek to create the conditions for better performance in local government. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of changes in political management upon the performance of local government, with England as a case study, and the implications for local government reform elsewhere.Design/methodology/approachUsing statistical data derived from the system of comprehensive performance assessment (CPA), the analysis uses Kendall's tau to correlate CPA score per local authority against the respective political governance arrangement of each local authority in England.FindingsAs the correlation coefficient did not reach the level of statistical significance, the principal finding is that the relationship between different political governance arrangements and local authorities' performance is not demonstrated. The implications of this for governments' reforms of political management are discussed.Research limitations/implicationsThe data are based upon English sources and point to the importance of conducting comparable analysis in other societies that have undergone similar changes in local political management.Practical implicationsIn instituting reforms of local governance, governments rarely pay serious attention to measurable outcomes and the paper suggests the value in so doing.Originality/valueThe specific relationship between local political management and performance has not previously been measured in precisely this way.
The omnipresent personal narrative: story formulation and the interplay among narratives
Authors: Hawkins Matthew A. , Saleem Fathima Z. 
Published: March 2012

PurposeStories draw meaning from narratives. The resulting narrative component in a story is entirely personal or contains fragments of organizational and/or societal narratives. Therefore, understanding how stories obtain these narrative fragments is critical to offering valid interpretations of narratives based on stories. In an effort to advance narrative research, the purpose of this paper is to address this fundamental question: How do stories obtain their reflected narrative fragments? Without a firm understanding of how stories draw meaning from narratives, the critical role of disentangling compound narratives from stories – interpretation – remains suspect.Design/methodology/approachThe findings are drawn from extant research and prior conceptualizations, and the story formulation model is introduced.FindingsThrough the introduction of the story formulation model, it is shown that personal narratives are omnipresent within collective narratives. Additionally, the analysis indicates there are two stages in which narrative interaction occurs, during the formulation of stories and during the formulation of narratives.Originality/valueThe findings have significant impact on the interpretation of stories, as well as furthering the understanding of how stories draw their meaning from narratives. In particular, the omnipresence of personal narratives within stories is particularly relevant for interpreting stories and narratives. Therefore, this paper offers a framework in which to conceptualize the story formulation process and contributes to story and narrative analysis research methodologies.
Legitimate peripheral irritations
Authors: Basbøll Thomas 
Published: March 2012

PurposeIn 2010, the author published a practical critique of some of Karl Weick's writings, to which Weick offered a rejoinder. The purpose of this paper is to use his response as an occasion to reflect on the rhetorical conditions of critique in the sensemaking tradition.Design/methodology/approachThis paper provides a rhetorical analysis of Weick's response to the author's critique, showing that it is directed at the ethos of the critic. For the purpose of the analysis, ethos is conventionally defined as the character, competence and goodwill of the speaker.FindingsThe analysis shows that Weick's dismissal of the author's critique suggests the lack of a “dwelling place” (the primordial sense of “ethos” in pre‐Socratic Greek) for critical scholarship in sensemaking research.Originality/valueAll scholarly communities need a space for the critical evaluation of the claims their members make. In an attempt to establish such a place, the author counters the standard disciplinary pedagogy of sensemaking, which is inspired by Lave and Wenger's “legitimate peripheral participation”, with a call for legitimate peripheral irritation.
Organizations as discursive gravitational fields
Authors: Gelis‐Filho Antonio 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a metaphor of organizations as discursive gravitational fields.Design/methodology/approachThe metaphor was built based on Einstein's general theory of relativity and Lacan's theory of discourse. The dialogue with organization studies was made possible through the utilization of the communicative theory of organizations as theoretical background.FindingsA number of insights were derived from the metaphor. First, organizations can distort their discursive surroundings up to the point of stopping any flux of independent discourse; second, the boundaries of organizations are to be understood as a gradient of discursive influence which fades away, often much beyond its legal limits; that also creates degrees of “stakeholding”, corresponding to different levels of influence and dependence on a specific organization by their stakeholders; third, the discursive fields of different organizations are often superposed, creating the phenomena of interference and superposition among organizational discursive fields; fourth, speciation among organizations is related to the kind of symbolic element attracted predominantly by their surrounding fields; and fifth, Lacanian theory suggests that no absolute and permanent discursive power is possible to persons or organizations, leaving room to the continuous production of new and potentially emancipating meaning, whose appearance, however, can be very difficult to predict due to its “discursive quantum nature”.Practical implicationsThis metaphor can help researchers and managers to interpret the discursive phenomena involving organizations as a whole, as well as organizational relations with stakeholders.Originality/valueBy bringing together organization theory, Einstein's and Lacan's theories, this paper provides a new view on the relation between organizations, discourse and society.
Complexity and change management: analyzing church leaders' narratives
Authors: Simpson Peter 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel approach to the analysis of individual and co‐constructed change management narratives, utilizing a framework derived from the theory of complex responsive processes.Design/methodology/approachThe research project explored change management through the analysis of narratives arising from participation in group conversation. This comprised a six‐month intervention with a group of six leaders from the Church of England. An action research method was employed that required the leaders to bring a case study from their work that required a change management intervention. The focus of the research study was not to “solve the problem” but to practice a particular method of conversation. Transcripts of the conversations were analyzed for change or continuity in the organizing narratives. The analytical framework employed comprises three paired categories of organizing narrative themes, namely Legitimate/Shadow; Formal/Informal; and Conscious/Unconscious.FindingsThe analysis focuses on both the interactions between these organizing themes and upon the iterations, over time, in the narratives. Following the theory of complex responsive processes, the practice of change management and its consequences are understood not as cause‐effect but rather as participation in emergent narratives. It is suggested that such narratives do not merely contribute to change management within an organization but that from the perspective of complex responsive processes theory such conversational life is change management.Originality/valueThe action inquiry method employed and the approach to data analysis from the perspective of complex responsive processes theory, together constitute a novel approach to researching and understanding change management.
Re‐writing the organization: the ideological deadlock of narrative methodology
Authors: Essers Juup 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to argue that narrative methodology is increasingly caught in an ideological deadlock set in terms of a false choice between meaning (an unconditional respect for the voice of experience) and truth (the scientific validation of stories), which has led to an increasing dismissal of analysis in narrative research. Inadvertently, however, this development has also heightened vulnerability to ideological deception in storytelling.Design/methodology/approachThrough the lens of Žižek's theory of ideology, this paper offers a reflection on narrative analysis that proposes a renewed critical perspective on “writing responsibly” about organizations by repositioning narrative analysis and its purpose vis‐à‐vis science, storytelling and ideology.FindingsŽižek's conception of ideological fantasy highlights the impotence of cognitive forms of ideology critique in this age. He stresses how this reality is pervaded as deeply by fetishistic illusions as is thought. These illusions, disseminated through narrative, serve as the backbone of everyday practices in organizations and society, based on a process of symbolic “quilting” that is designed to cover up the traumatic emptiness of central signifiers used to make sense of experience. Semiotic analysis enables people to recognize how they constantly “re‐write” this experience in organizational narratives and science to erase from view the structural impossibility of social fantasies.Research limitations/implicationsThree areas for the semiotic analysis of narratives are identified that merit special attention for the recognition of this ideological deception in stories: the entwinement of fact and fiction, the interplay of form and content and the use of perspective and voice.Originality/valueŽižek's theory has not been systematically applied yet as a methodological tool in narrative research and analysis, while it affords a promising way to critically negotiate the pitfalls of representation in organization and business research.
Peaceman‐Rachford ADI scheme for the two dimensional flow of a second‐grade fluid
Authors: Momoniat E. , Harley C. 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to obtain numerical solutions of a two‐dimensional mixed space‐time PDE modelling the flow of a second‐grade.Design/methodology/approachThe paper derives conditionally stable Crank‐Nicolson schemes to solve both the one and two dimensional mixed‐space time PDE. For the two‐dimensional case we implement the Crank‐Nicolson scheme using a Peaceman‐Rachford ADI scheme.FindingsFor zero‐shear boundaries the Cattanneo representation of the model equation blows up whilst the representation derived by Rajagopal is stable and produces solutions which decay over time.Originality/valueThe use of a Peaceman‐Rachford ADI scheme to solve a mixed space‐time PDE is both novel and new.
Determining the fin efficiency of convective straight fins with temperature dependent thermal conductivity by using Homotopy Perturbation Method
Authors: Ganji D.D. , Rahimi M. , Rahgoshay M. 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine the fin efficiency of convective straight fins with temperature dependent thermal conductivity by using Homotopy Perturbation Method.Design/methodology/approachMost engineering problems, especially heat transfer equations are in nonlinear form. Homotopy Perturbation Method (HPM) has been applied to solve a wide series of nonlinear differential equations. In this paper, HPM is used for obtaining the fin efficiency of convective straight fins with temperature‐dependent thermal conductivity. Comparison of the results with those of Homotopy Perturbation Method, exact solution, numerical results and Adomian's decomposition method (ADM) were been done by Cihat Arslanturk.FindingsResults show that both Homotopy Perturbation Method and ADM applied to the nonlinear equations were capable of solving them with successive rapidly convergent approximations without any restrictive assumptions or transformations causing changes in the physical properties of the problem. Moreover, adding up the number of iterations leads to explicit solution for the problem. The results are just obtained with two iterations. This shows the accuracy and great potential of this method. Finally, it can be seen that, with increase of thermo‐geometric fin parameter (v), the fin efficiency increases too.Originality/valueThe results demonstrate good validity and great potential of the HPM for Heat Transfer equations in engineering problems.
Trust, learning and a firm's involvement in industrial clusters: a conceptual framework
Authors: Niu Kuei‐Hsien , Miles Grant , Bach Seung , Chinen Kenichiro 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe research of industrial clusters, trust, and learning can be traced back to early strategic management and organization theory. The purpose of this paper is to review past literature and offer a conceptual framework that is related to industrial clusters, trust and learning.Design/methodology/approachThis study incorporates a literature review to filter key factors of industrial clusters, trust and learning by using a deductive approach to conclude a conceptual framework.FindingsThis study provides a conceptual framework which includes a firm's industrial cluster involvement, trust and learning. Based on the literature, inter‐organizational trust may be strengthened due to reduced proximity and better information flow within a cluster. Further, industrial clusters encourage co‐evolution and co‐adaptation that stimulates effective learning practices for clustering firms.Research limitations/implicationsThis study uses a literature review and offers a conceptual framework to examine a firm's involvement in industrial clusters with the possible influences of trust and organizational learning. There is a need for empirical as well as statistical analysis to validate the framework and to obtain more insight.Practical implicationsIndustrial clusters are widely considered a network‐based industrial system, with the aim of adapting to fast‐changing markets and technologies as an organized whole. Firms within a cluster can work together to co‐evolve for the purpose of enhancing competitiveness and entering the world market through effective learning and inter‐firm trust. As the sum of the benefit of a cluster is of greater value than each individual company or institution, whether to be involved in an industrial cluster to sustain competitiveness and enhance learning is worthy of managers' consideration.Originality/valueThe major contribution of this work is that it is the first attempt to produce the measures for a firm's involvement in industrial clusters for empirical tests, which are generally considered insufficient in this area of research. Further, this study offers a conceptual framework which brings cluster, trust and learning together for future empirical study.
Specialization of regional clusters and innovative behavior: a case study
Authors: Ferreira João , Garrido Azevedo Susana , Raposo Mário L. 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the specialization of regional clusters and their innovative behaviour, in a particular Portuguese region.Design/methodology/approachA regional case study (Region Centro of Portugal) is used, employing secondary and primary data in order to measure specialized critical mass of a region's clusters and analyze their innovative behavior following the European Cluster Observatory (ECO) methodology.FindingsCombining the different nature of data (primary and secondary), this paper identifies the specialized critical mass of a region's cluster, makes statements about the role of clusters in a regional context, and demonstrates how a regional clustering approach is important to understanding the innovative process. Based on an empirical survey, three types of clusters were found: basic, intermediate and advanced.Research limitations/implicationsAmong the research limitations is the undersized sample of primary data which does not allow deep findings to be drawn about the innovative behavior of the clusters in a general way. Therefore, future research should focus on this area, extending the empirical analysis presented here to add qualitative indicators on innovative behaviour, to calculate the impact of absorptive capacity in the case of regional clusters.Practical implicationsThis study provides a consistent methodology of cluster operation which could be useful for undertaking comparative work within regions' clusters across different sectors and countries, to reinforce the importance of the current discussion of policy clusters, and to identify specific requirements and needs of each cluster in order to improve the quality of decision making and to draw some policy implications.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to measure specialized critical mass of a region's clusters at the enterprise level and to explain cluster innovative behaviour, combining primary and secondary, based on ECO criteria. Furthermore, it provides initial empirical evidence and an amount of significant findings to support managers and policymakers in the understanding of regional and innovation clustering of small to medium‐sized enterprises.
A note on value creation in consumption‐oriented regional service clusters
Authors: Hsieh Pi‐Feng , Lee Chung‐Shing 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to differentiate traditional industrial clusters from emerging consumption‐oriented and destination‐based regional service clusters (e.g. entertainment, service‐based tourism, and convention destination); to develop an analytical framework to examine the impacts of both cluster and network effects in service clusters; and to offer implications for managing service innovation to enhance regional development and global competitiveness.Design/methodology/approachBy applying industrial cluster, strategic network, and value creation theories, this research develops a framework to study value creation in service clusters.FindingsThe research concludes that firms' decisions to enter or exit a service cluster depends on the net strategic effects, which is the sum of agglomeration economies (i.e. cluster effects) and the economies of network (i.e. network effects).Research limitations/implicationsFurther empirical research is needed to determine the significance of both cluster and network effects that determine firms' decisions to enter the service clusters.Practical implicationsFirst, firms need to incorporate cluster‐specific elements, such as experience economy, value networking, and service innovation to maximize the consumer's use value or perceived customer benefits. Second, in order to increase consumers' willingness to pay a higher price, firms located inside the service clusters need to adopt strategies, such as product or service differentiation, that increase the perceived benefits or use value of customers. Third, service cluster firms' other objectives should be to minimize location‐specific cost differentials by capitalizing on the positive effects of both agglomeration economies and economies of network. Fourth, public policy implications need to include laws and regulations that encourage and promote innovation and new ventures creation, competition in the marketplace, and capital investment to maximize value creation. Finally, policy makers need to promote high value‐added economic activities in the service clusters in order to maximize consumer welfare.Originality/valueA growing number of policymakers and scholars have recognized the significant economic contributions from the consumption‐oriented regional clusters. This paper is the first effort to develop an analytical framework to study value creation in service clusters for effective managerial and policy decisions.
Recovering children's voices in consumer research
Authors: Chitakunye Pepukayi 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how children can be empowered in the research process, as active agents and key informants, in matters affecting their consumption.Design/methodology/approachInsights are drawn from a study that used multiple methods to explore children's everyday food consumption practices. The data set was gathered over a period of two years and included: 23 informant‐generated visual diaries; seven online depth interviews; 15 school‐based depth interviews; 42 days of school‐based mealtime observations; and home‐based mealtime observations with four families, each visited on five different occasions.FindingsThe paper uncovers how visual diaries can be used in combination with other methods to transform relationships between adults and children in the research encounter. The emergent transformations are organised around three core themes that include: children's authentic voices; multiplex reality; and power and control. It was also found that children were able to express their own interpretations and thoughts about their food consumption practices, rather than solely relying on the adult interpretations of their lives.Originality/valueFor scholars and practitioners, the paper offers an approach that provides an opportunity for children to participate in family food decision‐making processes. It offers a cautionary tale not just about getting children to talk, but to allow children's voices to be heard in food policy initiatives, as well as in qualitative research and marketing. This poses a challenge to social researchers to think of different ways of engaging children in research.