Leicester Castle Business School
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Item Open Access 2018 Colloquium on Creative and Cultural Industries(2018-05-29) Granger, R.C.2018 Colloquium on Creative and Cultural Industries - research and practice eventItem Open Access A Cost-Effective Approach for Inventory- Transportation to Address Carbon Tax Policy(IEOM, 2024) Eslamipoor, RezaThe growing concern regarding global warming has resulted in the implementation of regulations aimed at progressively diminishing the volume of greenhouse gases released by industrial sectors and their associated supply chains. This research study concentrates on quantifying the carbon emissions within a two-tiered supply chain, in which a single supplier distributes a single product to different retailers, while also coordinating the many elements of the chain including transportation and inventory. A mixed integer programming (MIP) approach has been developed to attain this goal. This model considers decisions such as the time and quantity of replenishment for each retailer, the types of transportation vehicles employed, and the number of products transported by each vehicle. The goal of this optimization model is not only a reduction in transportation expenses and inventory management costs but also carbon emissions across the supply chain which can be reduced by regarding tax as a leverage.Item Open Access A Middle-Range Framework for Mapping African Small-Scale Farmers’ Relationships in the Agri-Market: Implications for the UN Decade of Family Farming(The Academy of Marketing Conference, July 2023, University of Birmingham, 2023-07-06) Bannor, Bernard; Ojeme, Mark; Takhar, AmandeepItem Metadata only Academic founders of university spinouts: Reconciling Mode 1 and Mode 2 logics of knowledge production through nested referents of legitimacy(2014-07-05) Klangboonkrong, Te; Jenkins, MarkThis paper explores how academic inventors who have been involved in university spinout formation negotiate their use of the apparently contradictory logics of academic and commercial science – operationalized as Mode 1 and Mode 2, respectively. Interviews with 18 academic inventors from top research universities in the UK suggest that the two logics are not in a binary contradiction. As they work at the interface of industry and academia, academic inventors are both motivated and governed by components drawn from two different logics in a conditional, context-dependent manner. While they incorporate social accountability as a desired function of academic research, inventors are simultaneously controlled by the traditional norm of what constitutes good science. In other words, they embed an extended reference point for legitimacy (society) under the academic one (peer community) albeit in an asymmetrical way, as scientific legitimacy still reigns supreme. We suggest how alternative practices are attainable yet governable through non-adversarial framing of competing logics, dialectical responses, and referents of legitimacy.Item Open Access Achieving Strategic Consensus through Individuals’ Social Practice: The Perspective of Kuwaiti Managers(2018) Al Mansour, Jarrah; Obembe, DemolaIt has been established that successful communication and implementation of organisational strategies is highly relevant to the understanding and commitment of internal stakeholders to this strategy. Termed strategic consensus, research in this area has quantitatively suggested that the concept is material in nature and can be simply controlled and aligned with other constructs including strategy implementation processes (Aranda and Arellano, 2010; Edh Mirzaei et al., 2016). However, there is limited research available in the literature on the social practice roles of both top and middle managers in achieving strategic consensus and their commitment to such understanding in terms of driving strategy. In this study, we explore the role of top and middle managers in forming a shared understanding of strategy during the communication and the implementation processes from a social practice perspective. Particularly, the focus of this investigation is to understand how a shared understanding is socially practiced and achieved between top and middle managers, and the consequent implications this might have for strategy communication and execution. A qualitative approach with a single case study was applied with a total of 27 interviews conducted. We argue that whilst strategic consensus as a factor affecting various business areas, the overall effect is not wholly dependent on the factor in and of itself; rather, the social interaction of both top and middle managers in reaching a shared understanding and their commitment to such an understanding plays a critical role in the extent to which strategies may be successfully realised.Item Metadata only Active media: A framework for digital media effectiveness.(IEEE, 2008) Alio, J.; Ibrahim, M.; Pickton, David W.; Bassford, MarieItem Open Access An Actor-Network Theory of Boundary Objects: Construction and Disappearance(British Academy of Management, 2016-09-06) Thompson, EdBoundary objects (Star and Grisemer, 1989) are non-human actors that are able to coordinate collaborative activity across social worlds. The means of boundary object emergence has not previously been theorised. This article makes use of Actor-Network Theory as a means of understanding boundary object ontology and transience. A case study of an emergency management collaboration forms the context for observing the construction and disappearance of a boundary object (here an emergency plan) in a turbulent actor-network. The article asserts that boundary objects are created through closer aligning understanding, and inscription – together identified as structuring activities. The strength of the object is determined by connections to strong actors. The moving of a boundary object between contexts is identified as re-contextualisation, a period in which the ontological strength of an object diminishes as connections to other actors are eroded in turbulent contexts.Item Open Access Agricultural value chain in a turbulent environment(2021-10-28) Adeyeye, Adebowale; Kolade, Oluwaseun; Obembe, Demola; Ogunsade, AdekunleThe development of agricultural value chains is typically associated with strong institutions, supporting infrastructures and stable political and policy environment. In developing countries characterized by environmental turbulence, smallholder farmers in particular, grapple with a wide range of obstacles and challenges that hinder them from full participation and optimisation of agricultural value chain by smallholder farmers. These factors include regulatory, market, competitive, weather, economic and political turbulence factors. This paper reviews the extant literature on agricultural value chain in the context of a turbulent environment. Drawing insights from the empirical context of Nigeria, where agricultural and other economic activities have been severely disrupted by terrorist violence, political instability and derelict infrastructure, we propose a conceptual framework that maps the impact of environmental turbulence on agricultural production, and discusses the technological and strategic options for smallholders to overcome these challenges in order to benefit optimally from agricultural value chainItem Metadata only Item Metadata only Am I Worth It Now? the Social Currency of Fair Skin For Bengali Millenials in the U.K.(Association for Consumer Research, 2021-10-09) Takhar, Amandeep; Bebek, Gaye; Magede, ThomasThis research study seeks to understand the value and social currency of skin lightening products amongst millennials from the Bengali community in the U.K. It emerges that the consumption of these products surrounds the deep rooted ideologies of beauty, that have been transferred across the migrating generations from India.Item Open Access Ambidexterity, interoperability and the extreme and normal experiences in emergency service contexts: surfacing dynamics, dialectics and trajectories(2017-07-03) Stokes, Peter; Wankhade, Paresh; Tarba, Shlomo Y.In recent decades, business, institutional, organizational contexts and environments have witnessed dynamic and radical change and transformations which have affected private and public sectors. These transformations have occurred against a backdrop of emergent crises and a perception that ‘extreme’ events: for instance, wars, terrorism and natural disasters are on the rise. In the public sector, emergency services face particular ‘extreme’ challenges. Unlike many other areas of public service, emergency services frequently deal with macro-situations which might be termed ‘extreme; for example attending scenes of road traffic accidents, fires, rescues, trauma and various forms of crime scene and incident. In contrast to these extreme instances, emergency service members also live in parallel with macro-extreme situations in more micro- everyday ‘normality’ and ‘routine’ within and beyond work. This dialectic of macro-micro situational extreme-normative experience creates a powerful dynamic with which individuals have to live with and negotiate. Furthermore, this extreme-normative experience echoes organizational ambidexterity which describes shifts between predictable exploitative and uncertain explorative environments and new forms of organization. This paper examines these dynamics in a health context (the ambulance service) by engaging and applying an exploitive-explorative conceptual framework of organizational ambidexterity. The research finds that while there is a recognition and acknowledgement of the presence of macro-type extremes in the ambulance service, the role and impact of more micro-situational extremes is less profiled and understood. In particular, it is the dynamic between, the living with, and the handling of, these two aspects of ambulance service workers everyday experience which the paper provides insights.Item Open Access And May the Odds Be Always in Your Favour: What ‘The Hunger Games’ Can Teach Us about Today’s Marketing Academia(Academy of Marketing (UK), 2014-07) Wohlfeil, MarkusSome consumer researchers suggested in the 1980s that fictional novels and artworks would tell us more about consumer behaviour, life and the human condition than scientific papers in our top-tier journals. Following in their tradition, this critical paper argues that “The Hunger Games”-trilogy provides a perfect mirror for The Publishing Games that haunt marketing academia in recent years. Just like the Hunger Games are the means by which the Capitol’s ruling elite subdues Panem’s wider population, the Publishing Games seem to reinforce the dominance of what an established scholarly elite perceives to be the appropriate marketing thought and methodology – perhaps to the detriment of innovation, creativity and broader impact within marketing academia. This paper suggests that marketing scholars have the choice: Either to sacrifice your integrity and play the game or to subvert the system. Perhaps a new consumer behaviour odyssey is needed to rekindle a new way of thinking…Item Open Access Are regulatory interventions seen as an obstacle or an enabler to SME performance and growth in transition economies: a study of gendered perceptions?(ISBE, 2014-12-05) Vershinina, Natalia; Rodionova, Yulia; Kitching, John; Barrett, RowenaObjectives The aim of this paper is to empirically test the influence of the perceived regulatory burden in the context of postcommunist economies on SME performance and growth from a gender perspective. Prior Work The research literature largely argues that regulation is a burden, cost or constraint for SMEs, although recent work suggests regulation has a dual influence, enabling as well as constraining firms. These conflicting influences play out variably for particular firms. Most studies focus on mature market economies where regulatory frameworks are well-established. In this paper we attempt to study the impact of regulation on small enterprises within the context of transition economies from a gender perspective. Approach Using a panel firm-level dataset from the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance survey (BEEPS) of 27 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia for 2005-2009, we study whether perceptions of regulatory interventions (tax, licencing and permits, court system, customs, inspections and labour regulations) are seen as obstacles or enablers by firms and whether perceptions differ by gender. We perform difference-in-means tests on various perception and “de facto” indicators of the regulatory environment and estimate a quartile regression model on the pooled-crossed section and the panel data to investigate the influence of dealing with governmental regulations on business performance. To control for reverse-causality, we merge firm-level perceptions with country-level indicators and financial parameters for similar interventions. Results Our preliminary findings from empirical testing suggest that there is variability in regulatory impacts by gender of business owner, firm size and firm age and ownership type. A more nuanced analysis suggests that business regulation enables growth for male-owned firms; while for female owned firms regulatory interventions are more of an obstacle. Implications Failure to understand how regulation affects business performance of female and male owned firms means that policy interventions are likely to produce unwanted consequences because neither the full range of mechanisms shaping small-business performance nor the conditions which support or hinder the exercise of these mechanisms are fully identified. Value Overall, this study seeks to contribute to existing research in the field of gender and entrepreneurship by examining the influence of regulatory burden in the context of post-communist economies rarely studied in the literature, using quantitative techniques that allow generalisation to population of entrepreneurs in transition countries.Item Open Access Are we doing them a dis-service? Preparing students to study overseas: a case study of Chinese students and British Culture.(2018-08-24) Jones, AlistairThere are a number of issues around this approach. Firstly there is the issue of content. What content should be taught to these students? There are a range of topics that could be covered, but these may be constrained by time pressures. Secondly, there is the way in which the students are taught. In the UK, there are a range of innovative methods to teach students, including flipped classrooms and co-creative learning. The problem is the vast majority of Chinese students have only experience of a lecturer standing at the front of the class, with no interaction between lecturer and students beyond a monologue. Noting that a number of these students will come to the UK to study, there is an issue over the way in which they are taught. The innovations in the UK (and elsewhere) leave many overseas students like a fish out of water. There is a clear concern over inclusivity. This is before the third issue is even encountered: language skills. In the case study, there is the situation of a European lecturer conducting classes in English, on the subject of British Culture. There is a language in which there is varied proficiency in class on a subject about which the vast majority of students know absolutely nothing. To be able to study in the UK, there are minimum standards of English proficiency. There may be a question as to whether these standards are sufficient for students to be able to study effectively in the UK. To make things more complicated, the whole teaching structure in the case study is devised in the standard Chinese format. It is very intensive. There are three one-hour lectures every morning (Monday to Friday). Each student will have two one-hour seminars during the week. On top of this there is also assessment. There are very obvious time pressures. This paper will explore the different pressures placed on both staff and students in such a scenario. Underpinning the whole paper is the question of: what could be done better? To what extent, if at all, are we doing these students a dis-service? Or, alternatively, what needs to be done better to enable these students to study more effectively?Item Open Access Are we learning from the old? A case study of Welsh local government restructuring(2018-06-21) Jones, AlistairLocal Government in Wales has undergone restructuring in the 1970s, the 1990s, and is currently undergoing the process again. In each round of restructuring, the same arguments appear: economies of scale, rationalisation, reducing costs, reducing the number of councillors. The result has been fewer councils across Wales and fewer councillors. The question has to be raised as to the extent of the lesson-learning which has been undertaken from each previous restructuring. If the same arguments are being presented, it suggests the previous restructurings failed to achieve their aims (with the exception of a crude reduction in both councils and councillors). Yet the justification for further restructuring hangs upon similar arguments. With each restructuring, there has been a merging of urban and rural local authorities. Little consideration appears to have taken place with regard to the specific needs and requirements of the different geographical areas. Each restructuring has seen a ‘one size fits all’ approach. No thought appears to be given to the role of the local councillor or how a local council interacts with its’ local community. Again, there are very different relationships for urban and rural councils. Mergers of councils appear more like marriages of convenience rather than any other rationale. Bigger is perceived to be better. When that is seen to fail, even bigger councils are proposed. The result of this is the loss of identity of councils and those living under the umbrella of a council, as well as a reduction in democratic participation. It is clear that lesson-learning has not happened with the restructuring of local government in Wales. It is not just a neo-liberal ideological imperative which is leading the attack on local government, these attacks pre-date the advent of neo-liberalism. Instead, there appears to be a clear push towards greater centralisation. Whenever such an attack is seen to fail to deliver more rational local government, the exponents double-down their bets and push for even larger local authorities and fewer councillors. There appears to be no desire to learn from past experiences. Such a perspective applies regardless as to which ‘superior’ tier of government is attempting to manipulate local government structures.Item Metadata only Assessing Performance of Organizations Under Uncertainty: An Application in Higher Education(2021-08-11) Hatami-Marbini, A.; Arabmaldar, A.; Toloo, M.Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is an established approach to measure the efficiency of a group of firms. Amongst many existing DEA models, enhanced Russell measure (ERM) has received some attention and it minimises the ratio of average input reduction to average output increase. In the original ERM, observations are assumed to be precise but in reality, it is always true. This paper presents a class of robust optimisation models to deal with uncertainty with a high degree of robustness in the ERM models. In addition, this study leverages the Monte-Carlo simulation to give an appropriate range for the budget of uncertainty approving the highest level of conformity for the ranking of units. An application on the Master of Business Administration (MBA) programmes is presented.Item Metadata only Assessing Sustainable Decent Work Development in the Post-Pandemic Informal Economy of Ghana(2024) Anlesinya, Alex; Muskwe, Never; Mumbi, HenryDrawing from the lenses of Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach, this study aims to explore post-pandemic decent work development in the informal economy and sustainable policy implementation options using large survey data from Ghana. It is being undertaken in collaboration with the Traders Advocacy Group Ghana (TAGG), a leading registered national umbrella union of workers in Ghana’s informal economy. The findings are expected to provide novel contributions to knowledge and understanding of decent informal work development generally and in post-pandemic/crises settings as well as decent work development policy implementation in the informal economy.Item Open Access Awakening a Sleeping Issue :Communication Department Structure(2015-07-03) Moss, D.; Sriramesh, K.; Stokes, Peter; Aparecida- Ferrari, A.; Likely, F.; Regeer, B.Moss, D., Sriramesh, K., Stokes, P.,Aparecida- Ferrari, A., Likely, F., Regeer, B. (2015) ‘Awakening a Sleeping Issue :Communication Department Structure’, An International Study, 22nd International Public Relations Research Symposium BLEDCOM 2015 - July 3 – 4.Item Open Access B2B Relationship Marketing – An assessment of the Nigerian SME-Bank Relationship(22nd International Colloquium on Relationship, 2014-09-10) Ojeme, Mark; Robson, Andrew; Coates, NigelItem Open Access Bad Outcomes from Good Practice within Emergent Negative Online Engagement(2018-07-02) Waite, K.; Dalziel, Nurdilek; Harrison, T.Social media is a complex, interactive and co-creative environment where marketers seek to promote brand values. The construct of online consumer engagement (OCE) has emerged as a key metric of social media marketing outcomes. Research has focused on positive OCE resulting and there is limited insight into the critical drivers of negative OCE. This paper draws on both Practice Theory and Justice Theory to identify a range of customer and organisational interaction practices during episodes of negative OCE within the customer services Facebook pages of retail banks. Results indicated instances of where “good” customer services practices have turned “bad” when applied to the social media context. The empirical work advances the theoretical concept of OCE to suggest that it may be targeted at a broader network of actors than has been conceptualised.