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RESUMEN Este estudio de casos múltiples describe cómo influyen la cultura institucional y personal de los actores involucrados en los procesos y dimensiones de la innovación educativa al incorporar las estrategias de Aprendizaje Basados en Problemas y Aprendizaje Basado en Proyectos, en 3 universidades paraguayas durante el periodo 2017 al 2020. Las dimensiones estudiadas son: Origen de las innovaciones, Liderazgo de las personas, Fases y estrategias del proceso, Valores de los involucrados, Resistencia y obstáculos al cambio, Impacto y Financiamiento del proceso de innovación; y los emergentes sistémicos culturales desde la perspectiva pedagógica. El marco referencial se ha construido a partir de los conceptos de Hargreaves, Fullan, Ausubel, Vygotsky, Carbonell y otros. Se ha utilizado el método del estudio de casos múltiples, de acuerdo a los lineamientos establecidos por Robert Yin y Robert Stake. Los resultados indican que la cultura organizacional es un gran factor condicionante de los procesos de innovación, que algunos profesores son el origen y los líderes de los procesos de cambio, con gran compromiso y superando resistencias institucionales, de los estudiantes, de los directivos y del cuerpo docente. Se concluye que las instituciones no consideran a la innovación como activo estratégico actuando de forma reactiva a los cambios y que la cultura institucional no propicia el ambiente adecuado para la implementación de innovaciones, por lo cual éstas son emergentes y endógenas. Se recomienda que las instituciones incorporen los procesos de innovación en los planes estratégicos, de desarrollo y de mejora, generando además espacios internos y permanentes de formación y acompañamiento a la innovación. ABSTRACT This multiple case study describes how the institutional and personal culture of the actors involved in the processes and dimensions of educational innovation influence the incorporation of Problem-Based Learning and Project-Based Learning strategies, in 3 Paraguayan universities during the period 2017 to 2020. The dimensions studied are: Origin of innovations, People's leadership, Phases and strategies of the process, Values of those involved, Resistance and obstacles to change, Impact and Financing of the innovation process; and the emerging cultural systemic from the pedagogical perspective. The referential framework has been built from the concepts of Hargreaves, Fullan, Ausubel, Vygotsky, Carbonell and others. The multiple case study method has been used, according to the guidelines established by Robert Yin and Robert Stake. The results indicate that organizational culture is a great conditioning factor of innovation processes, that some teachers are the origin and leaders of change processes, with great commitment and overcoming institutional resistance, students, managers and the teachers Council. It is concluded that the institutions do not consider innovation as a strategic asset, acting reactively to changes and that the institutional culture does not provide the right environment for the implementation of innovations, which is why they are emerging and endogenous. It is recommended that institutions incorporate innovation processes into strategic, development and improvement plans, also generating internal and permanent spaces for training and support for innovation.

Internationalisation ventures entail a close relationship between the trade channel (TC) and the logistics channel (LC), but few studies address simultaneously TC and LC design. This study investigates how TC can influence LC design and explores the role played by related contextual factors. Abductive reasoning is adopted within middle-range purposes, elaborating previous theory with multiple case studies considering European food manufacturers tackling a specific empirical context (i.e. the Chinese food and beverage market). The study lends contingency theory elements and leverages them to develop nine propositions that can open to further inquiries about the influence of TC on LC design and the impact of the identified contextual factors. Moreover, it proposes the behavioural theory as a theoretical lens to approach LC (and not only TC) design. Lastly, it provides practitioners with insights that can be useful to improve their understanding of the Chinese food and beverage market.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have marked difficulty with vocabulary, lack of language, or shortcomings with their ability to organize their oral expression; thus, they cannot effectively communicate with others. In particular, people with moderate or severe disabilities cannot systematically narrate an incident and cannot follow pragmatic rules provided by others. Their attempts at standard everyday conversation lead to cognitive problems. When children with ASD are faced with difficult circumstances, they are usually unable to seek help from others, which in turn can result in their being unable to communicate effectively. This research focused on three child participants with ASD and language disorders. The goal was to strengthen the effectiveness of their requesting help and to organize their oral expression, to use requesting help modules, to remove static key images, and to use augmented reality (AR) combined with the dynamic video clips in key partial video with action (KPV). This study developed request-assistance training in conjunction with an auto organizational menu (AOM), multiple case studies and withdrawal designs, training-response methods, and a comparison of outcomes. The proposed AR sentence intervention effectively increased the children’s desire to communicate with others and the accuracy rate of their help requests, and increased their level of communication. We conclude that the interface of our requesting help modules is efficacious enough to assist children with ASD at different levels. The proposed AR sentence intervention helps them build scenarios by themselves, helps them organize communication with their peers, and assists them to request help.

Objective: Most of the failed strategic alliances have suffered from inefficient structures. Developing and choosing a structure for an alliance cannot be effective, unless the alliance's managers consider the contextual parameters. Among different contextual parameters, the industrial context is very important because each industry has its own level of process manageability and outcome interpretability; and these attributes are varied within the range of industries. Thus, this paper aimed to investigate the effect of industrial context on structure of alliances, and also, to identify the first priority for developing and choosing a structure for strategic alliances. Methodology: The present research is conducted through multiple case study strategies, based on an interpretive paradigm. Applying the interpretive paradigm is necessary for such a research to reach a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon. So, the researchers conducted 6 independent case studies on strategic alliances between Iranian companies and the international partners in different sectors such as oil and gas, telecommunication, online-services, food and beverage, auto parts, as well as pharmaceuticals. Findings: Due to the research framework, industries can be classified into four groups by theirs process manageability and outcome interpretability. Alliances were not formed in isolation, and their industrial context would affect their structure and organization. The data from within-case analysis as well as cross-case analysis showed that each type of industrial context may result in a different set of variables which affect the organizational design of an alliance. The findings of the present research suggested that legal safeguards is the first priority for alliances which are formed in high manageability/high interpretability industrial context and trust would have the same role in alliances with low manageability/low interpretability context. Moreover, the formal control mechanisms in low manageability/high interpretability, and the social norms in high manageability/low interpretability are the dominant factors to develop and choose a structure for alliances. Conclusion: The context is missing parameters in researches on the structure of strategic alliances. It is impossible to design a prosperous alliance without considering the context in which the alliances are formed. This research aims to clarify this issue by focusing on industrial context and to provide a better understanding of how to design a better alliance. Furthermore, it can be inferred that the structure of strategic alliances is decided by simply choosing between binary options of contractual-based and equity-based forms. The specific industrial context of each alliance force specific prerequisites and structure of alliances should provide an appropriate response to these requirements.

This study was inspired by two of the leading papers in the case study method: Eisenhardt (1991) and Dyer and Wilkins (1991). The work of those authors could be considered a benchmark for research based on a case study. Additionally, this research comes as a complement to re-categorize case study research design. After reviewing those papers, the authors identified certain misunderstandings relative to when a case study should be addressed as single or multiple case studies. This study reviewed both recent and ancient research papers that used the case study research design in their investigations based on this misunderstanding. Thus, the previously identified misinterpretation of case study categorization is the gap this study filled. For this study, the case study research design was to be re-categorized to understand which case study design suits which research study. Accordingly, based on the identified gap, the study used secondary data to re-categorize the case study research design through a literature review method. As a result, the study identified three case study categories: single setting case study with single sub-case, single setting case study with multiple sub-cases, and multiple case studies. Consequently, the result re-categorizes single case study design into single sub-case and multiple sub-cases. This study makes recommendations through the proposed approach that filled the gap identified in the case study design categorization. In terms of adding to knowledge, this study’s proposed approach will augment the optimal use of case study research design by management, economics, and other disciplines’ researchers in the future.

Submitted by Débora Silva (deborasilva@espm.br) on 2022-09-20T15:05:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Victor_Alberto_I_Sen_Chen.pdf: 1147029 bytes, checksum: d0763587f09f15691e8319335185c7f2 (MD5) Approved for entry into archive by Débora Silva (deborasilva@espm.br) on 2022-09-21T15:37:07Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Victor_Alberto_I_Sen_Chen.pdf: 1147029 bytes, checksum: d0763587f09f15691e8319335185c7f2 (MD5) Approved for entry into archive by Débora Silva (deborasilva@espm.br) on 2022-09-21T15:38:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Victor_Alberto_I_Sen_Chen.pdf: 1147029 bytes, checksum: d0763587f09f15691e8319335185c7f2 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2022-09-21T15:39:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Victor_Alberto_I_Sen_Chen.pdf: 1147029 bytes, checksum: d0763587f09f15691e8319335185c7f2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2022-03-30 From the perspective of Dynamic Capabilities, this dissertation seeks to portray how digital capabilities contribute to the transition of business models. The research is structured from the constructs of Innovation in Business models and Digital Capabilities. This study was developed in four companies in the games sector, impacted by the digital transformation with the entry of 5G technology. It is intended to understand how companies adapt their business models to respond to digital transformation, and the transition of business models in the sector occurs in response to the impact of new technologies. The study is qualitative, through multiple case studies based on semi-structured interviews among businesspeople, triangulated with interviews with professionals from sectoral entities and reports issued by specialized companies. As a theoretical contribution, from the perspective of dynamic capabilities, this study advances the transition process of business models resulting from technological innovations in the economic environment that trigger Schumpeterian creative destruction. The managerial implications bring insights to managers of creative economy sectors on how competitors react to digital transformation by transitioning their business models to streaming platforms. Sob a perspectiva das Capacidades Dinâmicas, esta dissertação busca retratar como as capacidades digitais contribuem na transição de modelos de negócio. A pesquisa está estruturada a partir dos construtos da Inovação em Modelos de Negócio e das Capacidades Digitais. Este estudo foi desenvolvido em quatro empresas do setor de games, impactadas pela transformação digital com a entrada da tecnologia 5G. Pretende-se compreender como as empresas adaptam seus modelos de negócio para responder à transformação digital e como ocorre a transição de modelos de negócio no setor em resposta ao impacto de novas tecnologias. O estudo é de caráter qualitativo, por meio de estudos de casos múltiplos a partir de entrevistas semiestruturadas entre empresários, trianguladas com entrevistas a profissionais de entidades setoriais e relatórios emitidos por empresas especializadas. Como contribuição teórica, na perspectiva das capacidades dinâmicas, este estudo avança sobre o processo de transição de modelos de negócios decorrentes de inovações tecnológicas no ambiente econômico que desencadeiam a destruição criativa schumpeteriana. Em relação às implicações gerenciais, traz insights aos gestores de setores da economia criativa sobre como os competidores tendem a reagir em relação à transformação digital a partir da transição de seus modelos de negócios para plataformas de streaming.

The tourism sector is one of the most important drivers of the Portuguese economy. Indeed, any impacts on tourism organizations’ performance have a huge influence on the economic, social and cultural dynamic of the Portuguese society. As such, considering the challenges and pressure that the recent pandemic of COVID-19 has put on tourism organizations, much attention has been devoted to the problem. This paper focuses on web communication strategy followed by key organization in the tourism sector during COVID-19. It is an exploratory study based on a multiple case-study approach that combines different methodologies and techniques. The cases under study were selected through an analytic tool - SimilarWeb - and the preliminary findings, obtained through content analysis of websites and social media profiles of the organizations, indicate that Portuguese tourism organizations have entered in a new age of communication with their clients, characterized by more flexible, complex, and unbureaucratic communication strategies.

Recognizing a serious lack of research on routinized individual actions and organizational adaptation in the stability-change paradox, we intend to provide an in-depth explanation of the way in which agile methods affect organizational learning in self-managed, team-based organizations, taking a multi-level evolutionary approach. We explore learning in agile organizations by breaking the analysis of organizational routines down into different levels – individual, team and organization – and describing the process of variation, selection and retention of routines at each level. Leveraging on multiple case studies, we discuss how team members learn and gain knowledge, from both direct and indirect experience, and analyze how teams develop conceptual frameworks and interpret those experiences. Finally, we discuss how organizational memory develops and how teams in agile organizations adapt simultaneously within an ecological structure that also comprises the changing environment. Our findings reveal substantial flaws in the capacity of agile methods to foster organizational learning.

Research Question: Sustainability has become a pressing issue for a wide range of organizations, including sports' world governing bodies. This paper examines (1) how sustainability can be defined in the context of international sport federations and (2) how international federations implement social and environmental sustainability practices. We used an eight-dimensional analytical framework to analyze multiple case studies and drew on neo-institutional theory to interpret the recent changes international federations have made with regard to sustainability.Research Methods: Our methodology combined a multiple case study with analyses of official documents and in-depth semi-structured interviews.Results and Findings: Our six case studies revealed five approaches to sustainability: (a) implementing sustainability pilot events; (b) partnering with NGOs; (c) partnering with sustainability consultancies; (d) creating a sustainability committee; and (e) launching a comprehensive sustainability strategy with at least a full-time sustainability manager.Implications: In terms of theory, examining our data through the lens of neo-institutional theory provides insights into international federations' recent sustainability behaviors. Our findings enabled us to draw up a “sustainability ladder” of sport federations' responsibilities, which can be used to assess the degree to which they have embraced sustainability. In practical terms, our findings should encourage more sport federations to take concrete steps to improve their sustainability by implementing the five approaches.

This paper explores why business engage with the SDG agenda, with a view to understanding the business case for the SDGs. Building on and extending the responsibility literature’s discussion of the business case for responsibility, the paper develops a conceptual framework for analyzing why business engage with the SDGs. This framework is employed to analyze why a sample of 21 Danish companies decided to engage with the SDG agenda. The analysis finds that most companies view the SDGs as a platform for achieving rather conventional business goals such as mitigating risk, saving costs, and differentiating products and services. However, in a few cases, companies use the SDGs as a lever for carving out uncontested positions in future markets. The paper concludes that companies overwhelmingly view the SDGs as a business opportunity rather than as a business responsibility, something that fundamentally may distinguish the SDG agenda from previous responsibility agendas. The paper fills a gap in the extant literature on business responsibility by developing and validating a classification of the business case for the SDGs based on economic value drivers, and by deepening the empirical understanding of, what precisely this business case may be.

RESUMEN Este estudio de casos describe cómo influyen la cultura institucional y personal de los actores involucrados en los procesos y dimensiones de la innovación educativa al incorporar las estrategias de Aprendizaje Basados en Problemas y Aprendizaje Basado en Proyectos, en 3 universidades paraguayas durante el periodo 2017 al 2020. Las dimensiones estudiadas son: Origen de las innovaciones, Liderazgo de las personas, Fases y estrategias del proceso, Valores de los involucrados, Resistencia y obstáculos al cambio, Impacto y Financiamiento del proceso de innovación; y los emergentes sistémicos culturales desde la perspectiva pedagógica. Los resultados indican que la cultura organizacional es un gran factor condicionante de los procesos de innovación, que algunos profesores son el origen y los líderes de los procesos de cambio, con gran compromiso y superando resistencias institucionales, delos estudiantes, de los directivosy del cuerpo docente. Se concluye que las instituciones no consideran a la innovación como activo estratégico actuando de forma reactiva a los cambios y que la cultura institucional no propicia el ambiente adecuado para ña implementación de innovaciones, por lo cual éstas son emergentes y endógenas. Se recomienda que las instituciones incorporen los procesos de innovación en los planes estratégicos, de desarrollo y de mejora, generando además espacios internos y permanentes de formación y acompañamiento a la innovación. ABSTRACT This case study describes how the institutional and personal culture of the actors involved in the processes and dimensions of education alinnovation influence by incorporating Problem-Based Learning and Project-Based Learning strategies, in 3 universities in Paraguay during the period 2017 to 2020. The dimension sstudied are: Origin of innovations, Leadership of people, Phases and strategies of theprocess, Values of those involved, Resistance and obstacles to change, Impact and Financing of the innovationprocess; and emerging systemic cultures from the pedagogical perspective. The results indicate that organizational culture is a great conditioning factor of innovation processes, thatsometeachers are the origin and leaders of change processes, with great commitment and over coming institutional, student and faculty resistance. It is concluded that the institutions do not consider innovation as a strategicasset, actingreactively to changes and that the institutional culture does not provide the right environment for the implementation of innovations, which is why these are emerging and endogenous. It is recommended that institutions incorporate innovation processes in to strategic, development and improvement plans, also generating internal and permanent spaces for training and support for innovation.

Esta pesquisa analisa o processo de implementação de práticas de sustentabilidade em empresas de médio porte, considerando os seguintes aspectos: tomada de decisão, motivações, pressões, desafios e alavancas internas e externas e benefícios percebidos pelas empresas. Por esta razão, optou-se pela estratégia de pesquisa de estudo de caso, com abordagem de múltiplos casos. Foram analisadas três empresas de porte médio: Magik JC Empreendimentos Imobiliários, Chico Rei – As [camisetas] mais criativas da galáxia e EMDOC – consultoria especializada em imigração, transferências para o exterior e relocation. O esquema analítico construído a partir da revisão de literatura foi validado a partir de entrevistas com onze especialistas em sustentabilidade e/ou gestão empresarial em pequenas e médias empresas. Reforçando resultados anteriores, o estudo revelou a centralidade do gestor-proprietário na decisão de engajar a empresa em práticas de sustentabilidade, mas mostrou, também, que a importância que estes atribuíram ao engajamento dos funcionários para uma implementação bem-sucedida é um ponto crítico do processo de implementação. Revelou, ainda, que os gestores-proprietários não se sentiram alvo de pressões externas no sentido de adotar práticas sustentáveis, mas que enfrentaram desincentivos e resistência às ações empreendidas pelos próprios stakeholders dos seus negócios. Como benefícios percebidos, em comum aos três casos, destacam-se a motivação e a satisfação dos colaboradores. Os casos ofereceram vários outros insights sobre o processo de implementação, considerando todas as categorias analíticas utilizadas. O trabalho contribui para a literatura sobre sustentabilidade em médias empresas. This research analyzes the process of implementing sustainability practices in medium-sized companies, considering the following aspects: decision making, motivations, pressures, internal and external challenges and levers and benefits perceived by companies. For this reason, we opted for the case study research strategy, with a multiple case approach. Three medium-sized companies were analyzed: Magik JC Empreendimentos Imobiliários, Chico Rei - The most creative [shirts] in the galaxy and EMDOC - consultancy specialized in immigration, transfers abroad and relocation. The analytical scheme built from the literature review was validated by eleven specialists in sustainability and/or business management in SMEs. Reinforcing previous results, the study revealed the centrality of the owner manager in the decision to engage the company in sustainability practices. But it also showed that the importance they attached to employee´s engagement for successful implementation is a critical point in the implementation process. It also revealed that the owner-managers did not feel the target of external pressure to adopt sustainable practices, but that they faced disincentives and resistance to the actions taken by the stakeholders of their businesses. As perceived benefits, common to the three cases, the motivation and satisfaction of employees stand out. The cases offered several other insights into the implementation process, considering all the analytical categories used. The work contributes to the literature on sustainability in medium-sized companies.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to deepen the global sourcing (GS) phenomenon from the acquiring firms’ viewpoint by analyzing the Italian craft beer sector. This industry has been chosen since it represents a perfect context for the GS activities’ analysis. Notably, different features characterizing this business force Italian breweries to turn to suppliers, located outside their national borders, to purchase the necessary raw materials. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a multiple case study concerning four Italian agricultural breweries located in the Marche region. Findings Results identify the main motivations, drivers, risks, obstacles and costs related to the adoption of the GS activities, by corroborating a positive interconnection with the GS literature findings. Research limitations/implications The main limitation is related to the fact that the study is based on a survey carried out on a specific region and product category. Therefore, future research could analyze other Italian regions and/or different types of products. Practical implications The study identifies different gaps characterizing the Italian supply market. Managerially these gaps can be converted into critical opportunities for the future development of the entire Italian brewing sector. Moreover, the results detect several actions the investigated breweries will seek to develop in the near future, which could strongly support the growth of the Italian beer sector. Originality/value The study deepens a topic little explored by literature, especially with reference to the supply activities of the Italian agricultural breweries.

Simple Summary Painful castration of male piglets to avoid boar taint can potentially be replaced by three more ethical alternatives: using pain relief during and after castration, raising entire males, and administering vaccines. To ensure that pigs and pig products can be traded with the fewest barriers possible, the European Commission initially prefers the adoption of a single solution for the entire European Union. Each alternative is subject to its own advantages and disadvantages, however, and production chains in different member states disagree with regard to which alternative should be selected. This study examines the issue of castration in four different countries (the Netherlands, France, Slovenia, and Germany) against the specific background of their pork-production systems. The results indicate that, although the stakeholders in these countries are generally willing to switch from painful castration to one of the alternatives, the specific alternatives that they prefer are strongly dependent on the structure, scale, and cost and quality orientation of the production system. To improve animal welfare, policymakers should therefore consider allowing the coexistence of several different alternatives throughout Europe and developing policies for the most suitable alternatives for the pork-production systems in their own countries. Abstract To avoid the occurrence of boar taint in pork, the castration of piglets without pain relief is a common practice in many European countries. The public has been calling for more animal-friendly alternatives, which include anesthesia/analgesia, immunocastration, and the raising of entire males. To prevent potential trade barriers, the European Commission was initially more in favour of a single method. To date, however, only six countries have passed laws banning castration, and the pig farmers in these countries have chosen different alternatives. To understand the reasons behind the continuing fragmentation, this study examines the issue of castration within the context of four national pork production systems: in the Netherlands, France, Slovenia, and Germany. Drawing on in-depth qualitative data, the study demonstrates that stakeholders are generally willing to abandon the practice of piglet castration without anesthesia/analgesia. Their preferences for alternatives are largely dependent on contextual factors, however, including the structure, scale, and cost and quality orientation of the production system. The results imply that, although a single solution for castration is unlikely to evolve amongst the diverse pork-production systems in Europe, a future without the painful castration of piglets is possible if alternatives are accepted to coexist.

In order to reduce delivery time, optimize fleet use, streamline logistics flows and offer specializes services, the companies assign the logistics activities management to third parties. However, the experience of outsourcing for some organizations did not have the desired effect. In some situations, there was a tendency of reversal in decision of outsource logistics activities, a process called re-insourcing. Although the re-insourcing is being carried out, the reasons that motivate this strategic change in organizations are not totally clear. This paper aims to identify the reasons that motivate the organizations to interrupt the outsourcing of logistics activities and to carry out the re-insourcing. For this purpose, a multiple case study was conducted in a commercial vehicle manufacturer and in an agricultural and construction tractor manufacturer. The result of this study indicated that the main motivating factor for the re-insourcing was the low performance presented by logistics operators due to the high turnover of outsourced labor, low productivity and level of quality provided below expectations. A fim de reduzir o tempo de entrega, otimizar o uso da frota, agilizar os fluxos logísticos e oferecer serviços especializados, as empresas atribuem à terceiros o gerenciamento de suas atividades logísticas. No entanto, a experiência da terceirização para algumas empresas parece não ter surtido o efeito desejado. Em algumas situações, tem-se observado uma tendência de reversão na decisão de terceirizar as atividades logísticas, processo esse denominado re-insourcing. Embora o re-insourcing esteja sendo realizado, ainda não são totalmente claras as razões que motivam essa mudança estratégica nas organizações. Este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar as razões que levam as organizações a interromperem a terceirização das atividades logísticas e realizar o re-insourcing. Para tanto, um estudo de casos múltiplos foi conduzido em uma montadora de veículos comerciais e em uma montadora de tratores para agricultura e construção civil. O resultado deste estudo indicou que o principal fator motivador para a realização do re-insourcing foi o baixo desempenho apresentado pelos operadores logísticos, causado pela alta rotatividade da mão de obra terceirizada, baixa produtividade e nível de qualidade dos serviços prestados abaixo do esperado.

The literature regarding Lean Production philosophy is vast depicting historical aspects, implementation challenges, benefits of its adoption and other topics applied to various industries and services. However, the agribusiness segment, one of the major segments of the global economy features a large gap in national and international literature. This article aims to conduct a research through multiple case studies concerning the use of techniques and tools of Lean Production System in agribusiness organizations. Multiple type case studies were conducted in eight agribusiness units from different segments through the application of structured interviews, on site visits and document analysis. The research carried has identified that Lean Production techniques and tools are applicable to agribusiness environments, and that the ones which involve improvements in process control, production flow and logistics have higher emphasis on research units. Techniques and tools such as long-term supplier and customer relationship, production smoothing/heijunka and value stream mapping distinguished themselves by the similarity of use when compared to previous studies in agribusiness environment. It was also identified that there are differences concerning the adoption of the techniques and tools in research units that operate in production environments of the type Make to Order or Make to Stock. Such differences are imposed by specificities that affect agribusiness organizations, which is indicative for future studies. Resumo A literatura acerca da filosofia Lean Production é vasta retratando aspectos históricos, desafios da implantação, benefícios da sua adoção e outros tópicos aplicados aos diversos segmentos industriais e de serviços. Entretanto, no segmento do agronegócio, um dos principais segmentos da economia mundial, apresenta uma grande lacuna na literatura nacional e internacional. Este artigo objetiva conduzir um levantamento, por meio de estudos de caso múltiplos, sobre o emprego das técnicas e ferramentas do sistema Lean Production em organizações do agronegócio. Conduziu-se estudos de caso do tipo múltiplo em oito unidades agroindustriais de diferentes segmentos, por meio da aplicação de entrevistas estruturadas, visita in loco e análise documental. O estudo identificou que as técnicas e ferramentas do sistema Lean Production são aplicáveis no ambiente agroindustrial, sendo as de maior destaque para as unidades de pesquisa que envolvem melhorias no controle do processo, fluxo de produção e logística. Técnicas e ferramentas como long-term supplier and customer relationship, production smoothing/heijunka, e value stream mapping destacaram por pela similaridade de uso quando comparados a estudos prévios no ambiente agroindustrial. Identificou-se também que há diferenças quanto a adoção das técnicas e ferramentas em unidades de pesquisa que atuam em ambientes de produção Make to Order ou Make to Stock. Tais diferenças são impostas pelas especificidades que afetam as organizações do agronegócio, sendo este o indicativo para estudos futuros.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to enrich the debate on business models for sustainability in contingent situations. Approach We employ literature on business model and business model for sustainability theory and a contingency framework advanced in previous literature, and apply qualitative methods of multiple cases of four solar companies in two distinct dynamic business environments to examine how business models develop to align with changes in the business environment. Findings We provide empirical evidence that confirm and support for the contingency framework on business model dynamics and how it can be extended. 1) Adding a conceptual framework helps us understand the roles of the components in a more detail, which reveals that 2) in a hypercompetitive situation there is a focus on adapting the customer interface and business structure, while in an environmental shift situation innovating the value proposition and revenue model is needed. 3) Overall value creation activities should not be limited to the value proposition, intangible values in the customer interface also need to be addressed suggesting customer sensitivity in the customer interface. as a way to better understand the interaction between the firm and the customer in the customer interface. Originality Jointly, our findings provide new insights on business model for sustainability changes in dynamic business environments thereby the spread of and scale up of sustainable technologies., Journal of Business Models, Vol 7 No 1 (2019): Special Issue: Sustainable value creation through business models - Online first

Les résultats de recherches divergent au sujet de la persévérance dans les études postsecondaires. À cela s’ajoute la hausse d’étudiants en situation de handicap (SH) dans les universités qui semblent vivre un parcours difficile. En s’appuyant sur le concept de persévérance, cet article a pour but de dégager les difficultés rencontrées par des stagiaires en SH. Cette recherche regroupe trois cas qui ont participé à trois entretiens. L’analyse inductive a permis de faire ressortir que les difficultés sont principalement d’ordre organisationnel et interactionnel., Research findings differ on perseverance in postsecondary education. In addition, an increase in students with disabilities attend university. These students seem to experience a difficult course during their studies. Based on the concept of perseverance, this article aims to identify the difficulties encountered by student-teacher’s with disabilities. This research includes findings provided by three cases that participated in three interviews. The inductive analysis revealed that the difficulties are mainly organizational et interactional.

While prior research has looked at big data&rsquo, s role in strengthening the environmental justice movement, scholars rarely examine the contexts, mechanisms and processes associated with the use of big data in monitoring and deterring environmental offenders, especially in the Global South. As such, this research aims to substitute for this academic gap through the use of multiple case studies of environmental offenders&rsquo, engagement in illegal deforestation, as well as legal deforestation followed by fire. Specifically, we have chosen four cases from three economies in the Global South: Indonesia, Peru and Brazil. We demonstrate how the data utilized by environmental activists in these four cases qualify as true forms of big data, as they have searched and aggregated data from various sources and employed them to achieve their goals. The article shows how big data from various sources, mainly from satellite imagery, can help discern the true extent of environmental destruction caused by various offenders and present convincing evidence. The article also discusses how a rich satellite imagery archive is suitable for analyzing chronological events in order to establish a cause-effect chain. In all of the cases studied, such evidentiary provisions have been used by environmental activists to oblige policy makers to take necessary actions to counter environmental offenses.

Especially in recent years, the attention to sustainability is even more felt in the tourism sector where the consequences of indiscriminate behavior in the exploitation of resources on the environment, on human beings and on their economic activities have become increasingly evident (Jaremen, Nawrocka, & Żemła, 2019). Tourism is often considered as a source of natural and cultural resources’ exploitation, but it also contributes to GHG emissions, being one of the main reasons that pushes the world population to move. On the other hand, tourism-related activities, when correctly designed, can be a strong source of sustainable development. Indeed, tourism products should be sustainable as they depend on local area resources: they are complex products which, on the one hand, should use local resources as a differentiation strategy, on the other hand, hey should factor in the needs of several territory’s stakeholders. Researchers and institutions have developed many tools to assess tourism environmental impacts focusing both on the local area as a whole or on a given product. For the tourism sector, social and environmental impacts, responses and indicators fall into five categories (Buckley, 2012): population, peace, prosperity, pollution and protection. Moreover, these tools and measures have not been able to increase sustainability of tourism products and the industry is not yet close to sustainability. In this chapter, we proposed an approach, built around Elkington’s three pillars model (1994), to assess sustainability (Lehtonen, 2004) of tourism products; we focus on products design processes to create a model that help entrepreneurs in assessing if their products are sustainable and where they are their main weaknesses. In order to show how such a simple model can be used to evaluate sustainable tourism initiatives and highlight their weaknesses we have used a multiple case studies approach and we have analyzed three different cases.

Cet article s’intéresse aux caractéristiques et aux formes de confiance dans la création et le développement d’alliances entre Très Petites Entreprises (TPE). Les résultats des études de cas d’une alliance stratégique domestique et d’une alliance stratégique internationale dans un pays en développement montrent que : (i) les formes de confiance dans les deux cas d’alliance sont de nature calculée, affective et cognitive; (ii) des différences apparaissent dans les principales caractéristiques rattachées à chaque forme de confiance lors de la formation ou du maintien de l’alliance (iii); la confiance relationnelle est le socle de la coopération dans les deux alliances alors que la confiance institutionnelle intervient exclusivement dans l’alliance stratégique domestique., This article investigates the characteristics and forms of trust in the creation and development of alliances between very small enterprises. The results of the case studies of a domestic strategic alliance and an international strategic alliance in a developing country show that: (i) the forms of trust in the two alliance cases are calculated, emotional and cognitive trust; (ii) there are differences in the main characteristics of each form of trust when forming or maintaining the alliance (iii); Relational trust is the foundation of cooperation in both alliances, while institutional trust operates exclusively in the domestic alliance., Este artículo analiza las características y formas de confianza en el proceso de creación y desarrollo de alianzas entre muy pequeñas empresas. Los resultados de los estudios de casos de una alianza estratégica nacional y una alianza estratégica internacional en un país en desarrollo muestran que: (i) las formas de confianza en los dos casos de alianza son calculadas, de naturaleza emocional y cognitiva; (ii) existen diferencias en las características principales de cada forma de confianza al formar o mantener la alianza (iii); La confianza relacional es la base de la cooperación en ambas alianzas, mientras que la confianza institucional opera exclusivamente en la alianza nacional.

In recent decades, concepts such as sustainability, innovation, and competitiveness have become fundamental for the development of tourist destinations, and thus, particularly, for the generation of value co-creation processes. To understand the role of tourism firms in these processes, more theoretical and empirical research is required. This paper addresses this need by examining the increasing role played by religious accommodations, adopting a co-evolutionary approach to sustainability and the resulting value co-creation processes. The study focuses on the dynamics of the relationship between this new hospitality model, territories, and tourists, through the analysis of six case studies localized in the historic centre of Rome (Italy). Findings show that religious accommodations can be considered as a new sustainability-oriented hospitality model that, by creating effective multi-level co-evolutionary adaptations with its territory and tourists, positively affects sustainable development as well as the generation of value co-creation processes. The paper contributes significantly both to sustainability literature and to the study of new hospitality models. Thus, theoretical and managerial implications emerge, together with suggestions for future research.

The present research investigates the development of new products within cultural and creative industries resulting from the use of traditional elements. In particular, we analyse methods facilitating the recombination of traditional elements into new products. Accordingly, we conducted an inductive qualitative research, based on five case studies represented by Italian restaurants awarded with three Michelin stars. Findings reveal how traditional elements may be combined with elements coming from different and distant cultures. In addition, the elements of tradition may be the only source of innovation if atypical links are established among them. Our results mainly contribute to shed new light on the dynamics which allow to achieve the equilibrium between familiarity and novelty in cultural and creative industries where products suffer a rapid obsolescence. Finally, we advance the debate on tensions created by the inclusion of novelties in traditions by proposing method facilitating combinations.

International audience; Scholars increasingly recognise that business contributions to sustainable development are founded in new business models. However, most research in this field remains conceptual and offers a rather static view of a complex and dynamic reality. This article contributes to understanding how new business models for sustainability are fashioned through the interactions between individuals and groups inside and outside companies. Based on two case studies, our findings show that three elements contributed to the path of transformation toward business models for sustainability: building networks and collaborative practices for learning and action around a new vision, the deployment of new concepts drawn from outside the company, and elaborating an implementation structure within a reconfigured network. Our findings reveal the complexity of the process, which went through four subprocesses: identifying, translating, embedding, and sharing. Our results also highlight the importance of considering value destruction as well as new ways to create and capture value.

We describe our experiences with two networked learning environments: Adobe Connect (AC) and Second Life (SL) for supporting teaching and learning in distance education courses. We collected data in two separate case studies: one in Norway (AC) and the other in the United States (SL), using different but comparable methods of data analysis (qualitative methods). We compare the two environments through the lens of problem-based learning (PBL), using four application characteristics of PBL (learner activity, collaborative learning, feedback, and valuation of previous knowledge). AC’s strength is its easy-to-use interface and its high-quality audio and video streaming that support facial expression and gesturing in communication. The SL interface is more complicated to learn, but it allows for movement in virtual reality by an avatar and interaction with three-dimensional (3D) objects. The avatar makes the users feel less apprehensive during communication.

Questions we care about (Objectives): When students have to work on challenging tasks, as it isoften the case in entrepreneurship classrooms that leverage experiential learning, team successbecomes central to the students learning. Yet, the formation of teams is often left up to thestudents or pre-arranged at random. Therefore we investigate the importance of team formation inthe entrepreneurial classroom and ask: (i) What are the underlying factors that influence outcomesof teamwork in student groups? (ii) How does team formation influence student perception oflearning?, and (iii) Do different team formation strategies produce different teamwork andlearning outcomes?Approach: We employed a multiple case study design comprising of 38 student teams to uncoverpotential links between team formation and student perception of learning. This research draws ondata from three different entrepreneurship process (‘through’) modules at a single institution. Thethree modules all combine similar theoretical background knowledge (e.g. effectuation,opportunities and business models) with hands-on tools (e.g. design process) to stimulate activeparticipation, but are characterized by three distinctive types of team formation: random teacherpre-assigned, student selection, and teacher directed diversity. In each of these modules,ethnographic methods (interviews and observations) were employed. Additionally, we had accessto students learning logs, formative and summative assessments, and final exams. A rigorouscoding and inductive analysis process was undertaken. Pattern and relationship coding were usedto reveal underlying factors, which helped to unveil important similarities and differences betweenstudent in different teams’ project progress and perception of learning.Results: When students are randomly assigned, they are (i) surprised by people, who are differentfrom them; (ii) challenged by having to find a common language; (iii) learn that heterogeneitypotentially produces individual identity growth. However, despite these advantages, random teamformation strategy leads to less well functioning entrepreneurial student teams as most teams lackpersonal chemistry which makes them anchor their work too much in a pre-defined project. Incontrast, we find that students that can form their own teams aim for less diverse teams than whatis achieved by random assignment. However, the homophily the students are seeking with regardsto ‘personal chemistry’ seems to be favourable for entrepreneurial student teams because itenables them to have team relationships as the anchor for their work. In this way the teambecomes an important enabler to endure the pressure and volatility of an entrepreneurial processand progress relatively fast.Implications: It is important for teachers to recognize that student team assignment is not the sameas student team formation and that team formation requires time. Furthermore, while student selfselectionteam formation strategy is favorable for ‘through’ modules, random assignment is asuitable choice for ‘for’ and rather causal-designed entrepreneurship modules.Value/Originality: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper addressing the issue of teamformation and student learning which is of immense practical value for entrepreneurship educators.It is important for educators to understand that the formation of teams has implications forstudents’ perceived learning and progress in an entrepreneurial process and thus team formationneeds to be considered when designing and running the module.

As cadeias curtas de abastecimento alimentar tornaram-se formas alternativas de produção, comercialização e consumo de alimentos, redefiniram as relações e as interações com os espaços sociais e com o ambiente institucional, criando novas ligações entre os produtores e os consumidores. Também permitiram ao consumidor fazer novos juízos de valor com base no seu próprio conhecimento e experiência, fazendo com que, além das diferenças intrínsecas e funcionais do alimento, como sabor, nutrição e saúde, as características externas como a saúde pública, meio ambiente, ética e justiça social se tornassem critérios de avaliação, competição e características de qualidade. Em breve pesquisa bibliométrica, observou-se que os estudos sobre as cadeias curtas de abastecimento alimentar abrangeram uma variedade de temas, como por exemplo, desenvolvimento rural, geografia econômica, sustentabilidade e segurança alimentar, além de temas mais atuais, como agricultura urbana e comportamento do consumidor. Ou seja, observou-se uma mudança no foco analítico visto que os estudos passam a considerar as práticas de consumo alimentar como pontos centrais de análise. No entanto, considerando o aumento das preocupações com a natureza da colaboração e do conflito entre os atores envolvidos, esta tese buscou na abordagem da cocriação de valor uma forma de estudar e analisar essas relações nos três tipos de cadeias curtas de abastecimento alimentar. Abordando uma realidade na qual o consumidor deixou de ser um ator passivo e passou a ter papel de fundamental importância no mercado, a cocriação de valor tem ganhado um espaço cada vez maior na literatura empresarial, porém, como esta tese irá demonstrar, ainda não foi aplicada em cadeias curtas de abastecimento alimentar, revelando o caráter inédito deste estudo e uma oportunidade de pesquisa valiosa. Baseando-se nos estudos de Prahalad e Ramaswamy e Vargo e Lusch, assume-se que a cocriação de valor ocorre no mercado e no momento de uso de um produto ou serviço, pressupondo a existência de um novo contexto, no qual o valor está na experiência e não mais no produto em si, ou seja, ela ocorre quando o consumidor e a empresa estão intimamente envolvidos em, conjuntamente, criar o valor, que é único para o consumidor individual e para a sustentabilidade da empresa. Sendo assim, partindo dessas premissas e baseando-se nos elementos descritos pelos autores como fundamentais para se caracterizar uma relação cogeradora de valor − diálogo, acesso, risco e transparência (DART) − esta tese procura responder à seguinte pergunta de pesquisa: Existe cocriação de valor nos diferentes tipos de cadeias curtas de abastecimento alimentar? Para tanto, realizou-se 04 estudos de caso em diferentes regiões do estado do Rio Grande do Sul, abrangendo a tipificação de cadeias curtas de abastecimento alimentar descrita por Renting et al. (2003). Revisão integrativa de literatura, entrevistas on-line e pessoais, assim como observação direta foram as ferramentas escolhidas para o levantamento dos dados secundários. Os resultados revelaram que não há evidências de cocriação de valor em todas as cadeias curtas de abastecimento alimentar estudadas, ressaltando que as mesmas possuem especificidades importantes que precisam ser consideradas quando se analisam as relações entre os atores envolvidos. Short food supply chains have become an alternative way of producing, selling, and consuming food, and redefined relations and interactions with social spaces and with the institutional environment, creating new connections between producers and consumers. They have also allowed the consumer to have new value judgements based on their own knowledge and experience, allowing, besides the intrinsic and functional differences of the food, such as flavor, nutrients and health, external characteristics, such as public health, environment, ethics, and social justice to become criteria for evaluation, competition and characteristics of quality. Through a brief bibliometric research, it was observed that studies about short food supply chains have covered a broad range of topics such as rural development, economic geography, sustainability, and food safety, and more current topics such as urban agriculture and consumer behavior. That is, there was a change in the analytical focus, and studies began considering food consumption practices as central points for analysis. However, considering the increase in the worries about the nature of the collaboration, and the conflict between the parts involved, this thesis tried, through the co-creation of value approach, a way to study and analyze these relations in the three kinds of short food supply chain. Approaching a reality in which the consumer went from a passive role to playing a fundamental part in the market, co-creation of value has been gaining more space in the business literature, but, as this thesis will show, still has not been applied to short food supply chains, then revealing the unprecedented character of this study, and a valuable research opportunity. Based on Prahalad and Ramaswamy and Vargo and Lusch, it is assumed that co-creation of value occurs in the market and in the moment the product or service is being used, presupposing the existence of a new context in which the value is in the experience, and not anymore in the product itself, which means it occurs when the consumer and the company are intimately involved in, together, creating a value that is unique for the individual consumer and for the sustainability of the company. So, starting from these premises and based on the elements described by the authors as fundamental to characterize a relation that co-generates value – the dialogue, access, risk and transparency (DART) – this thesis tries to answer the following research question: is there co-creation of value in the different kinds of short food supply chains? For that, four case studies were made in different regions of the Rio Grande do Sul state, covering the classification of short food supply chains described by Renting et al. (2003). Integrative review of the literature, online and personal interviews, as well as direct observation, were the tools chosen for secondary data collection. The results showed that there is no evidence of value creation in all the short supply chains studied, emphasizing that they have important specificities that should be considered when analyzing the relationships among the actors involved.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate factors and weaknesses influencing university–industry interactions diffusion and success by focusing on the research services initiatives because there are limited studies in literature focusing on this specific form of interaction between the two actors. Design/methodology/approach The authors carried an explorative research based on multiple case studies referring to research services experienced between two big Italian universities and small and medium-sized enterprises located in the same area. Findings By conducting a cross-case analysis, the authors highlight categories of data in terms of factors influencing interactions’ diffusion and success, as perceived by researchers and by firms; and weaknesses in the interactions process to identify suggestions for improving interactions’ diffusion and success, from researchers and firms. Practical implications The outcomes provide managerial implications useful for agencies supporting the diffusion of innovation among firms and firms’ systems for defining new policies and action plans aimed at making the university–industry interactions faster and more effective, improving the innovation processes within firms. Originality/value This paper gives new insight in the analysis of factors enhancing university–industry relationships with a focus on research services collaborations and focusing both on university and industry, where large contributions focus predominantly on both groups.

Social impact evaluation is considered as an important tool enabling social enterprises to legitimise their existence and contribution to society. Attending to multiple goals and operating in a complex setting, social enterprises typically face diverse expectations when they seek to evaluate social impact. Although common agreement as to what constitutes an ideal social impact evaluation approach has not been reached, social enterprises are increasingly called upon to adopt sophisticated assessment metrics to demonstrate social impact accurately and objectively. Moving beyond the perception that social impact evaluation is a managerial tool providing precise and quantifiable measures of social outcomes, this thesis re-conceptualises social impact evaluation as a socially constructed phenomenon that needs to be understood in its contexts. The thesis reviews extant social impact evaluation research in three different contexts: (1) social enterprises’ care to the welfare of people in need; (2) social enterprises’ constraints; and (3) relationships between social enterprises and resource providers. From this review, three gaps are evidenced: (1) the underdevelopment of social impact evaluation research in the social entrepreneurship domain; (2) the lack of coherent theories to understand the complex nature of social impact evaluation; and (3) the narrow setting of empirical data in social impact evaluation research. The study focuses on answering three research questions: (1) what are the multiple contexts in which social impact evaluation takes place? (2) How do social enterprises respond to social impact evaluation in these contexts? (3) What theoretical frames can help us better understand social impact evaluation? The research utilises three theoretical frames: care, effectuation, and social relations to explore social impact evaluation in different contexts. Specifically, care theory is used to understand social impact evaluation in the context of social enterprises’ concerns about the wellbeing of people in need. Effectuation theory is applied to explore social impact evaluation in the constrained circumstances of social enterprises. Social relations theories are employed to understand social impact evaluation in the relationships between social enterprises and resource providers. These are then integrated to present a cohesive theoretical frame for the study. The research utilises a multiple case study design with four social enterprises in Vietnam. The primary data derives from 45 interviews with social entrepreneurs, resource providers, beneficiaries and other stakeholders. The research show that facing multiple goals and requirements, social enterprises collectively employ different behavioural logics to respond to social impact evaluation requirements. Specifically, to understand the wellbeing of people in need, social enterprises evaluate social impact continuously through purposeful observations, regular interactions and thorough reflections to appreciate the subtle and significant changes to their beneficiaries at the time or over time. In order to counter constraints associated with social impact evaluation, social enterprises adopt an effectuation logic as the basis of action. They ‘make do’ with the available resources they can afford, creatively applying alternative evaluation approaches, looking for assistance from partners and even ‘pushing back’ from perceived inappropriate assessment requests. Simultaneously, to sustain relationships, social enterprises react differently to social impact evaluation depending on the symmetric or asymmetric relationships they have with resource providers. The thesis provides a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics and complexity of social impact evaluation in the diverse settings of social entrepreneurship. Social impact evaluation is characterised as caring, effectual and relational practices. The findings advance our understanding of social impact evaluation by showing that social impact evaluation is not a linear and causal process that can be done with objective and quantifiable metrics. The key contribution of the research is the way in which it accounts for the contextualisation of the phenomenon under investigation by proposing an integrative frame rooted in the care, effectuation and social relation literatures. This integrative theoretical frame moves beyond a perspective on social impact evaluation as a technical and asocial activity to view it as a dynamic, socially constructed and contextually bounded phenomenon. More generally, and perhaps more importantly, the research responds to recent calls for more attention to pressures and conflicting demands in order to understand social enterprises by taking into account the tensions and challenges associated with social impact evaluation inquiry.

Purpose – In reference to increasing consumerization, this article investigates how organizations react to employees’ adoption and use of personal devices at work, such as by incorporating innovative, individual, IT-driven changes into their corporate practices. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Four in-depth, longitudinal case studies, conducted between 2006 and 2010, feature 92 interviews and observations to ensure triangulation. Findings – We identify three types of organizational reactions (induction, normalization, and regulation) that depend on specific dimensions and affect the nature of subsequent IT-based organizational change. Research limitations/implications – Continued research into the consumerization of IT can explore how it affects organizations today and whether different effects might arise in other contexts and with different kinds of organizations. Practical implications – Reversed IT adoption logics have deep consequences for organizations; companies could achieve great gains from them, if carefully considered and managed. Originality/value – This article addresses a topic that has been analyzed only scarcely and rarely, namely, the consumerization of IT and the tactics organizations use to incorporate user-driven IT innovation. Although this article presents only a few cases, it constitutes an initial attempt to explore this research area theoretically and investigate the ways organizations can harness employees’ personal IT adoption logics to promote creative, IT-driven change in firms.

This research investigates how companies operating in emerging markets and investing in latest IT solutions can be supported in developing maturity in business-IT alignment faster than their predecessors in developed countries. It follows up the consultant perspective through documenting ex-post the participant’s observations, reflected through participant objectivation, to analyze the activities con-ducted, the obstacles faced and the success reached while trying to mature business-IT alignment in selected companies operating in the Arab World. From the five cases included in the sample, evidence was found that specific consultant’s interceptions can indeed “fast-track” the needed improvement in business-IT alignment, especially when the sense of crisis in the company creates a readiness to em-brace the change and the subsequent benefits are obvious enough to those involved to sustain the newly reached maturity level. However, the personality and behavior of the CEO, the attitude of middle management, and the corporate culture as a whole may obstruct all efforts of “fast-tracking” any time, especially when the actors involved adhere to traits deeply rooted in the region’s hierarchical traditions. Godkänd; 2015; 20150228 (ahmelr)

Introduction: Traditional notions of leadership involve more centralized power at the senior levels, with the expectation that vision and strategy will trickle down to operational levels. This type of leadership may work well in smaller organizations, but the complexity of integrated health models involving large inter-organizational networks may challenge this notion of leadership. To date, the evidence on how traditional centralized leadership impacts the implementation and functioning of integrated care networks is unclear. There is a need to understand different forms of leadership within and across organizations that are involved in integrated care networks. Theory/Methods: We conducted multiple case studies evaluating the implementation of Health Links (HL), a “low-rules”/bottom-up integrated care model in Ontario, Canada. Through an analysis of the qualitative data via semi-structured interviews, this study provides a practical exploration of leadership in the HL context. Our analysis draws on process- or action-oriented theories of leadership that look beyond senior leadership (e.g., distributed and shared leadership, complexity leadership theory). These theories posit that non-formal leaders are critical to the functioning of complex organizations and systems, and consider leadership as an interactive adaptive process, often emergent in nature. Results: Preliminary results show that leadership was highly centralized in implementing HL and concentrated almost exclusively at the senior level, which entailed governance committees involving CEOs and upper management. This centralized leadership seemed to result from a failure to develop capacity for distributed leadership throughout partner organizations, which further impeded front-line workers from understanding the goals of HLs to provide integrated care. That is, due to factors such as insufficient education/communication regarding HLs, lack of delegation of more operational tasks, and failure to meaningfully seek out front-line support, there was limited ability within the organizations to sustain the integrated care effort without an ‘overreliance’ on senior leadership to drive HLs forward. Conclusions: Though senior leadership is critical in setting a vision for integrated care networks, our findings indicate that a centralized leadership approach may not be optimally effective at the stage of implementation and ongoing functioning of these networks. Discussion: In light of these findings, efforts to implement ‘low rules’ integrated care initiatives may require a more proactive approach to leadership, which clearly delineates the possible shared leadership roles throughout organizations. However, in order to develop distributed leadership, senior leadership must facilitate a context (e.g., via knowledge sharing) for informal leaders to take ownership of the implementation project and champion it to those delivering integrated care on the front lines. Lessons Learned: Through the establishment of ‘shared’ or complementary leadership roles across all levels of the organization, distributed leadership may allow for more meaningful clinician buy-in and subsequent spread of the integrated care initiative. Limitations: At this stage, results are still preliminary and limited by the fact that case studies are not generalizable beyond the Ontario, Canada context. Nevertheless, these results help set a foundational groundwork from which to further explore distributed leadership in integrated care. Suggestions for future research: Future research should continue to explore the value of distributed leadership in integrated care, and would particularly benefit by studying contrasting models of leadership and comparing their impact on implementation outcomes.

Orientation: The management context is dynamic; this is especially evident in human capital as the primary source of value creation as opposed to physical and natural resources. In response, measurement methodologies have moved from a transactional approach (strategy implementation) to a transformational approach (human capital contribution paradigm), as well as diverging into different purposes. To date, there has been little overlap on recent domains to consider in managing and measuring the contribution of the human resource function and employees, and how to unlock and add value. Research purpose: The aim of the study was to explore and describe changing domains within human capital management to be managed and measured. Motivation for the study: The motivation was to advance the understanding of changing measurement domains to aid practitioners to manage and measure the contribution of the human resource function and employees, in order to unlock and add value and ultimately contribute to the success of an organisation. Research design, approach and method: Unstructured, in-depth interview data of purposively selected cases from a selected panel of human resource practitioners specialising in human capital measurement was thematically analysed in this exploratory-descriptive investigation. Main findings: Findings suggested that seven domains should be managed and measured. These domains highlight new areas of impact and levels of management. In addition, crossdomain relationships in measurement allow for an understanding of the impact and potential value on which to capitalise. Practical/managerial implications: New domains to manage and measure focus the attention of practitioners beyond the transactional performance management paradigm to a transformational approach to influence the business strategy. Higher education institutions need to develop students’ cognitive skills to facilitate systems thinking. Contribution: This study suggests a new approach to managing and measuring the human capital function and the workforce.

Purpose: This paper aims to apply the logic of bounded rationality to corporate reputation management and explores how constraints posed by bounded rationality impact on firms' implementation of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). Design/methodology/approach: This study draws on primary and secondary data from 12 UK-based companies. The authors conducted 17 semi-structured interviews and analysed the data through an inductive methodology. Findings: Reputational risk exposure is a central driver in a company's decision to implement SSCM practices. However, managers face bounded rationality, in particular: conflicting priorities; capabilities and resources; commitment; and contextual setting, which in turn, means that companies do what they can to safeguard their reputation, but balance the extent to which they implement SSCM and the cost of doing so against the likelihood of exposure. Practical implications: By engaging in collaborative relationships with their supply chain partners, focal firms who wish to implement SSCM can spread the cost of SSCM across supply chain partners, which helps decrease the extent to which firms face the conflicting priorities of financial targets and SSCM. A long-term commitment to SSCM can also help build capabilities and resources necessary for SSCM implementation. Originality/value: The paper makes a significant contribution to the literature by conducting a cross-sectional study of the decision-making process involved in SSCM. The results suggest that managers are facing a number of constraints, which leads to sub-optimal choices regarding the level of SSCM implementation.

Title: Political Parties’ in Social Media - A case study of political parties’ crisis management in social media Introduction: The emergence of social media platforms has transformed how organizations communicate with stakeholders. The concept of social media is top of agenda for many business executives today. While some argue social media to provide unique opportunities for organizations, others argue the opposite. The rise of social media enables crises to escalate, implying that organizations need to have well-established crisis management strategies. In the Swedish election of 2014, social media is predicted to have enormous influence on the end result for the political parties. Prior to this thesis, no previous research has looked deeper into the context of crisis management in social media for political parties in Sweden. It is in the political context where this study contributes to the research area. Purpose: The aim of this paper is to investigate political parties’ crisis management in social media, using strategies developed for commercial organizations, and thereby contribute to the research of non-commercial organizations. Methodology: A triangulation method was used of semi structured interviews and archival analysis on four crises of political parties. Eight parties in the Swedish parliament where deliberately selected. However, only four of the parties, Socialdemokraterna (S), Sverigedemokraterna (SD), Vänsterpartiet (V) and Centerpartiet (C), had the possibility to participate in the study. Conclusion: (S), (V) and (C) all used both Facebook and Twitter as a crisis communication channel especially due to its speed and spread. However, (SD) did not use social media as crisis communication channel. The crisis management in social media of each party could improve immensely, however limited resources of employees and finance was found to be the main reasons holding the progress back. Conclusively, dialogue strategies and to some extent response strategies used by commercial organizations are indeed frequently used by political parties as well.

Internationalisation has increasingly become a strategic issue for companies. Ample evidence confirms the key role of logistics in supporting the company internationalisation process, especially in today's context characterised by growing demand in speed and flexibility. Setting the logistics strategy in line with corporate objectives for each export area over time is crucial and represents a challenge for logistics directors worldwide. The aim of this paper is to address this gap by providing empirical-based evidence on how the international logistics strategy should be shaped accordingly with company internationalisation choices. The research is based on case studies with a sample of 14 exports areas of six companies. Results offer a new approach with respect to previous contributions that studied specific logistics issues separately. From a practical viewpoint, managers can benefit from a full picture of both the variables to be set up and the potential alternatives to be selected when designing the international logistics strategy.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) came into the power when banking institutions started to become more and more competitive. The focus on CRM increased banks’ abilities to understand their customers’ current needs more precisely and also helped them to understand their customers’ behaviours, such as what they have done in the past, and what they plan to do in the future. Such practice further helped banks to design strategies based on each customer’s preferences in order to meet their customers’ demands (Xu, et al., 2002). The adoption of the CRM within the banking industry chiefly depends on the overall adoption of IT culture within the country. Today, developed countries like the UK are enjoying innovative technologies, tailored-made systems, and have a high level of IT maturity within their banking industry. On the other hand, developing countries such as Pakistan are still dealing with several technological issues and the biggest one is the lack of IT alignment within most of their organizations especially within their banking industry (Kundi and Nawaz, 2006). Therefore, it is essential for researchers to further investigate the major IT-related problems faced by the banking industry, especially problems with the current use of the CRM system within the banking industry of developing countries i.e. Pakistan compared to banks in developed countries i.e. UK.This research has investigated and covered the overall operational issues of the CRM system within the banking industry of both developed and developing countries i.e. UK and Pakistan by using a qualitative case study research approach with two case studies, in which the Pakistani banking sector is selected as the developing country for case study one; for a developed country, the UK banking sector is selected as case study two. From the several existing UK and Pakistani banks, the researcher has selected some leading banks from the two countries and conducted several semi-structured interviews with different bank employees. Furthermore, the obtained interviews’ results from both case studies are analyzed, compared, and discussed using an in-depth cross-case analysis approach and uncovered the similarities, differences, and several CRM operational issues within the banking sectors of both Pakistan and the UK.

This study concerns foreign language learners' motivational changes over a long period of time; it is an investigation of the learning histories of six learners who have achieved high proficiency in English. Unlike a large body of conventional foreign language learning motivational research, which has primarily been conducted using quantitative methodologies, this study employs two non-conventional approaches, a combination of learners' biographies and case study research. The primary purpose of the study is to holistically explore successful English learners' motivational trajectories and their learning histories in the Japanese context. To this end, foreign language learning motivation is conceptualized and illustrated as a dynamically changing construct that plays an important role in the process of foreign language learning. In the literature review, longitudinal studies concerning foreign language learning motivation and autobiographical studies and case studies that are relevant to this study are examined. The central research question is what motivational trajectories and learning histories these highly proficient learners have had, and how these learners have sustained their learning motivation over time and eventually achieved high proficiency while in an EFL (English as a foreign language) environment. The participants are six Japanese adults who have achieved high levels of English proficiency and who use English in their jobs. The design used in this case study involves both holistic and specifically focused analyses, by which each participant's learning history is collected through individual interviews. The author reports each participant's learning history, and the initial proposition concerning motivational change and salient motivational sources found in the participants' learning histories are collectively analyzed and discussed. Exploring the data concerning how the participants have maintained foreign language learning motivation resulting in the idea that sustained motivation is not always present in successful foreign language learning and that the key to success involves a cognitive change from a state in which motivation is present to one in which a more intentional psychological force, commitment to learning, develops. Based on this thought, a model illustrating the key to success in foreign language learning in the EFL context is presented. The results provide new, engaging, and important information to people who are seriously involved in foreign language learning in EFL contexts, where the majority of learners fail to attain high levels of foreign language proficiency after receiving years of formal education.

In today's complex, knowledge and innovation-driven economy, innovating business models and their architecture is in growing demand. Innovating business models to become network-based is a complex venture, but critical for the survival of many companies. Business model innovation is not widely researched, though. This paper examines the development of new business models in three networks and focuses on the challenges related to that. A key finding concerns the network partners' very different business models and success criteria related to the innovation process and outcomes. The network partners' value equation in a new network-based business model is complex to understand but nonetheless important to drive and lead the model from idea - through the innovation process - to the market. Another interesting finding is the big difference in network construction and demand of change to the individual network partners' business models.

A new model was developed to enhance the understanding of the full context of work associated hazards, to explore the connection between OHS performance and a systematic approach to safety, and to simplify approaches to OHS management. This Safe Place, Safe Person, Safe Systems model was derived from the literature and used as the basis for the development of a framework, consisting of 60 elements which was transformed into an assessment tool. This assessment tool was trialled with a pilot study on a medium sized manufacturing plant in the plastics industry, and the tool and Preliminary Report peer reviewed by an expert panel using the Nominal Group Technique. After refinements were made to the assessment tool it was applied to eight case studies that were drawn from advertisements. This qualitative study consisted of two parts: firstly the assessment using the Safe Place, Safe Person, Safe Systems framework; and secondly a controlled self assessment exercise to target improvements to three of the elements over a period of four months. The study illustrated that the Safe Place, Safe Person, Safe Systems framework could be successfully applied in a range of industries to promote OHS improvements and to provide a systematic, planned approach to fulfilling OHS responsibilities. The application of this framework highlighted that: there is a need for further education on the correct application of the risk assessment process and the responsibilities owed to contractors; techniques such as dynamic risk assessments are more suitable where the place of work is variable and hazards are unpredictable; more focus is needed on the appropriate management of hazardous substances with long term health consequences; and that the level of formality invoked for treating hazards does not necessarily equate to improved risk reduction outcomes. The Safe Place, Safe Person, Safe Systems framework was found to be applicable to small, medium and large organisations provided the assessment was scoped to a small division of relatively homogeneous activity to ensure a more representative hazard profile. This approach has provided a way forward to simplify OHS management and also offers practical direction for implementing a targeted OHS improvement program.

The concept of positioning was first highlighted by Trout and Ries in an article published in 1971 and has since then been a well-studied subject. However, little study has been made regarding the way the positioning strategy changes depending on which country the company is about to enter. The purpose of this master dissertation is thus to investigate culture’s role as a driving force in international positioning. The theoretical framework consists of the foundations of the positioning process and international marketing literature about cross-cultural theories. These theories are put together in an analytical model where a connection between the two theories is illustrated that will be used as a foundation in gathering and analysing the empirical data. In a qualitative approach, the empirical data was gathered through semi-structured telephone interviews with the Marketing Directors or a corresponding title of five different Swedish international companies. These findings were also complemented with secondary data such as web pages and annual reports of the companies. The findings of the study showed that cultural differences are considered to some extent and have resulted to an entirely new positioning strategy for one of the researched companies and to changes in the strategic tools made for consolidating the position in two additional companies. In the two remaining companies, culture has not been a driving force and the companies have thus not considered this in their positioning in international markets.

Recent literature asks for more attention to be paid on the implementation of sustainability in supply chains and on its antecedents. Therefore, this research aims at moving a step forward toward t...

La responsabilité sociétale de l’entreprise (RSE) est aujourd’hui une réalité qui s’impose à tout type d’entreprise. Du fait du rôle dominant du dirigeant dans la prise de décision dans les petites et moyennes entreprises (PME), sa perception de la RSE constitue une source privilégiée de l’étude du concept. Partant de l’idée que la certification selon les normes internationales peut être un facteur distinctif de la perception de la RSE, nous avons mené une enquête exploratoire basée sur des études de cas multiples auprès de huit PME tunisiennes réparties en deux groupes : quatre certifiées selon les normes internationales (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS, etc.) et quatre non certifiées. L’analyse des convergences et des divergences entre les perceptions des dirigeants de ces PME a montré une faible distinction entre les deux groupes quant à l’appropriation du concept de RSE et à l’identification des motivations et des freins à l’engagement de l’entreprise. D’autres facteurs émergents de cette étude sont liés à la conviction personnelle du dirigeant et à la culture nationale., Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is becoming a mainstream issue for any organization. With the more direct impact of the manager decision in Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), manager’s perception of CSR constitutes a privileged field of research to understand the concept. In light of the fact that certification with the international standards could be a potential causal factor of CSR’s perception, a multiple case study was conducted on eight Tunisian SMEs either certified with the international standards (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS…) or without any certification. The analysis of similarities and differences of perceptions shows no significant difference between the groups in appreciation of the term of CSR as well as identification of motivations and barriers to the firm commitment. Our research reveals other causal factors related to manager beliefs and national culture., La responsabilidad social de la empresa (RSE) es actualmente una realidad que se impone a todo tipo de empresas. De hecho del papel dominante que tiene el dirigente en la toma de decisiones en las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PME), su percepción de la RSE representa un enfoque particularmente interesante para el estudio de este concepto. Al inicio, la certificación según las normas internacionales, puede ser un factor distintivo de la percepción de la RSE. Hemos llevado una encuesta basada sobre estudios de varios casos con ocho PME tunecinas repartidas en dos grupos: cuatro de ellas eran certificadas según las normas internacionales (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS, etc.), y las otras no. La análisis de las convergencias y divergencias entre las diferentes percepciones de ambos dirigentes ha demostrado una pequeña distinción entre los dos grupos relativa a la apropiación del concepto de RSE, y la identificación de las motivaciones así que de los frenos relativos al compromiso de la empresa. Así, de este estudio, salen otros factores liados a las propias convicciones de los dirigentes y a la cultura nacional.

Processes of servitisation will lead providers to change their service delivery structures, but they also need to transform broader organisational attributes including contractual and relational capabilities. Based on case studies in the European healthcare sector, we investigate the influence of increasing levels of service complexity on this transformation. Our findings are potentially counter-intuitive, suggesting that contractual capabilities do not increase with service complexity. Instead, we observed increased levels of relational capabilities, manifest in the visibility of the provider on the customer site, the number of ‘non-requested’ site visits and increasingly informal information exchange.