Research Roundup
The Regional Studies Association has awarded Lisa De Propris, together with David Bailey (Aston), Jennifer Clark (Georgia Institute of Technology, US) and Laura Wolf-Powers (CUNY, New York, US) £10,000 to set a research network to undertake comparative research and organise themed workshops. This initiative will contribute to MAKERS’ dissemination strategy.
Topic: The manufacturing sector is changing and a new manufacturing model is emerging. Recent scholarly debate has unpacked this ‘production organisation revolution’. It is therefore timely to understand what form this new manufacturing model will take in both Europe and the United States how it can contribute to regional economic development. Indeed, the core of this ‘New Manufacturing Regions’ network is to examine whether – and under what conditions - the new manufacturing model may offer the potential to develop and anchor manufacturing activities in relatively high-cost regional economies in the EU and US.
Vivek Soundararjan and Kiran Trehan obtained a grant from Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE), Research and Knowledge Exchange (RAKE) Fund worth £4,996 for a project titled “Spaces of Impact: Understanding Impact-Oriented Knowledge Hubs and their Role in the Creation and Development of Sustainable Entrepreneurship”. In addition to the ISBE grant, the project benefits from in-kind contributions worth £4,172 from the Impact Hub Birmingham and University of Birmingham.
Research events
Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay co-organised (with colleagues at the University of Derby) a workshop on cyber-crime on 19th September, held in the Alan Walters Building. Over 80 delegates from several police forces, prison services, personnel from the offices of Police and crime commissioners, National Crime Agency were in attendance, as well as academics and researchers from several universities. This event was funded by the Police Knowledge Fund. Further details of the event can be found here: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/business/events/2016/september/cybercrime-systematic-evidence-review-workshop.aspx
Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay also organised a day-long seminar on ‘Economic Evaluation’ on October 12th for approximately 15 members from a number of Police Forces across the country. The event, held at the London Campus of the University of Liverpool, was designed to provide training to police personnel in economic evaluation, and was funded by the Police Knowledge Fund.
The Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, in conjunction with City-REDI, launched their 2016 Economic Review of Birmingham on 1st November. Catherine Harris provides a summary of the event here: https://blog.bham.ac.uk/cityredi/greater-birmingham-chambers-of-commerce-and-city-redi-birmingham-economic-review-2016-launch-event/
Lisa De Propris was speaker at event titled ‘Is EU manufacturing ready for industry 4.0?’, held in Brussels on 13th October 2016, as part of the European Week of Regions and Cities. Along with Patrizio Bianchi (Regione Emilia Romagna, Italy) and Steffen Kinkel (Karlsruhe University, Germany, the speakers discussed what it means and what it will take to align EU manufacturing sectors to Industry 4.0.
Abstract: In 2015 the EU Commission (DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs) and the European Parliament started raising awareness that a new manufacturing model was emerging: this is referred to as Industry 4.0 or smart manufacturing. Technological change, digitalisation and a new demand are driving a ‘production organisation revolution’ that is redefining the nature or the manufacturing sector and its contribution to the wider economy. Industry 4.0 is argued to mean more servitised and customised manufacturing goods and the pervasive exploitation of key enabling technology across all sectors. Industry 4.0 offers a unique opportunity to upgrade EU industrial capabilities, to reshore and anchor competences and functions in the EU and to repopulate advanced industry systems across regions to secure jobs and prosperity.
John Fender gave a plenary talk on September 8th on the topic of ‘Prospects for the UK Economy after the Brexit Vote’ at an event in Birmingham organised by the Birmingham Branch of the Bank of China to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Branch being opened in the city.
Christoph Gortz’s paper “News shocks under financial frictions” (co-authored with John Tsoukalas, University of Glasgow, and Francesco Zanetti, University of Oxford) has been presented at the ‘13th Workshop on Methods and Applications for Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Models’ and mid-year meeting of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) Workgroup on Methods and Applications for DSGE Models. The event was hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and was a very high profile NBER workshop on 14th-15th October 2016.
Pervez Ghauri was influential in the organisation ofa joint professional development workshop (led by the MNEmerge and GLOBAL VALUE projects) to present the results and discuss about the impacts of MNEs on the global development in the annual Academy of Management conference. The Academy of Management is one of the world leading and most valued conferences in the field of management and organisational studies. The annual meeting gathers together more than 10,000 academics, scholars, and professionals. The 76th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management was held on August 5-9, in Anaheim, California, USA. The professional development workshop gathered around 40 participants to listen the insights and take part in the lively round table discussions about the impacts of MNEs in sustainable development in the world. The presentations were based on the results of two large EU FP7 funded research projects: MNEmerge led by Lappeenranta University of Technology, and GLOBAL VALUE led by WU Vienna. The main question in the professional development workshop was “How multinational corporations can impact on global development?” In the projects this is guided by the UN’s sustainable development goals which urge us, and MNEs, to fight for poverty reduction, equality, clean water and sanitation, as well as affordable and clean energy, among others.
Pervez Ghauri and the MNEmerge team presented the policy implications that have arisen from the project’s research results in a policy briefing organized at the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), European Commission in Brussels, Belgium on the 27th of October, 2016. The policy briefing consisted of presentations and discussions on the research framework and methodology of the MNEmerge project, as well as on policy recommendations resulting from studies on capability building and poverty reduction in different sectors. For more information, see here: https://mnemerge.com/2016/10/31/mnemerge-newsletter-october-2016/
Andy Hodder and David Houghton organised a ‘Digital and Social Media Workshop’ on Wednesday 23rd November. In this session, they outlined the various options available to staff for using digital and social media as part of your research, thanks to some recent investment from the Business School. Practical issues of collecting data, showcase some of the software at our disposal, and the issues associated with analysing this data (both qualitatively and quantitatively) were also discussed.
Paul Lewis organised the last of a six-seminar ESRC series on 10th November 2016 focusing on ways in which the political economy has changed since the 2008 financial crisis. It has explored developments in the areas of work, welfare, finance and democracy. This final session, titled ‘Understanding the post-crisis landscape: assessing change in economic management, welfare, work and democracy in the context of Brexit’, provided an overview of the main discussions, as well as considering ways in which Brexit might produce further possibilities for change in these areas. The event was hosted in the premises of FEPS (Foundation for European Progressive Studies), Rue Montoyer 40, Brussels.
Andy Lymer provides an update from CHASM:
CHASM (the Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management – directed by Andy Lymer) is pleased to announce it has received a large private donation to support its staffing, operations and several key projects for the next five years. A sum totalling £625,000 has been gifted to the Centre that will enable it to recruit two researchers, support two days a week of the Director’s time and a part time administrator.
In addition, it will fund a full Phd Scholarship, support up to 4 UG/PGT interns per year to work with members of the Centre and a range of exciting projects. Already in planning as one of these project is an event on the state of financial education in the UK and Europe to be held the end of January to follow up on work completed by the Centre in the summer of 2016 for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Financial Education in Schools and other work the Centre is engaged in within this area – further details shortly.
The Centre will also be launching their latest savings policy work – a Savings Manifesto for those on low income – on December the 6th (see website for more details). This has been generously supported by the Barrow Cadbury Trust. They have also just launched their annual Financial Inclusion in the UK report, sponsored by Friends’ Provident (details also on the website).
For further details on all of CHASM’s activities please see our website at http://chasm.bham.ac.uk. If you would like to receive our regular quarterly newsletter please do let Andy Lymer know, and even perhaps follow us on Twitter (@UOBCHASM) if you are interested in areas of financial security, inclusion, education and capability at a personal or household level.
Mark Saunders co-organised (with Yehuda Baruch, University of Southampton) the doctoral symposium at this year’s British Academy of Management’s annual conference in Newcastle. The symposium was attended by over 170 doctoral students from around the world, who took part in 20 sessions as well as having the opportunity for individual research conversations with leading business and management academics. Mark lead two sessions, the first on ‘diagnosing your research philosophy’ and the second on ‘why sampling matters’.
Kiran Trehan and Mark Saunders were both keynote speakers at the British Academy of Management’s symposium hosted by the University of Liverpool. Kiran spoke on Assessing & Recognising Practice in the Doctoral Thesis, and Mark spoke about the need to wake up Business School engagement with work-based doctorates.
External engagement
Fiona Carmichael, Sarah-Jane Fenton, Monica Pinilla-Roncancio (both School of Social Policy), Marea Sing and Steven Sadhra (Institute of Clinical Sciences) have been working with Health Exchange, a prominent health and wellbeing service provider in Birmingham, and the Business Engagement team on Workplace Health and Wellbeing in Construction and Retail. For more details, see: https://www.cossstrategicframework.bham.ac.uk/index.php/2016/09/05/workplace-health-and-wellbeing-in-construction-and-retail-a-research-project-by-the-university-of-birmingham-and-health-exchange/
Birmingham Business School researchers, Jo Duberley, Holly Birkett and Etlyn Kenny are co-authors of a report that has received high levels of national and international media attention since its release earlier this month. The report, entitled Socio-Economic Diversity in Life Sciences and Investment Banking, was written for the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission and combines two reports focusing on issues around access to these sectors for individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Working with Louise Ashley from Royal Holloway University of London, the Birmingham Business School team conducted the research into access to front office roles of investment banks for less privileged applicants. Their findings indicated that, despite efforts within the sector, systemic barriers for applicants who did not have the ‘right’ social background remain. In addition the increasing requirement for applicants to have significant exposure to or work experience within investment banking in order to be considered for entry positions stacked the odds further against non-privileged applicants. The research was reported in national media including the BBC, The Guardian and The Financial Times and media outlets within the US, Australia and Ireland.
Geraint Harvey featured on Radio 4’s Thinking Aloud on Wednesday 28th to discuss his research into personal trainers and neo-villeiny. The discussion is based on Geraint’s work published in Work, Employment and Society and Leisure Studies.
Andy Hodder was guest speaker at the Public and Commercial Services Young Members’ Seminar held in Birmingham 17-18th September. Andy was invited to speak about his ongoing research into the relationship between trade unions and young people and also ran a workshop with delegates.
Pamela Robinson has worked with External Relations and had an article published in the Insider Magazine on the topic of the challenge of meeting demanding supply schedules of UK supermarkets post-Brexit. The article draws on Pamela’s research on fresh produce in supply chains. For more information, see http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/business/research/research-projects/strawberry-field-forever.aspx
Awards and activities
Agnieszka Chidlow was awarded Best Conference Review in recognition for her outstanding contribution to the Academy of International Business Annual Conference in New Orleans, USA, June 2016.
Jane Glover and Kieran Trehan were Awarded Best Paper in the Family Business Track at the 39th Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference, held in Paris earlier this Autumn. Glover, J.L. and Trehan, K. (2016) ‘Keeping it in the Family: Paradoxes of Leadership in Family Firm Strategy and Survival’, Paper Presented at 39th Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference, Paris October 2016.
Andy Hodder has been elected to the Editorial Board of 'Work, Employment and Society’. Andy’s three year term will begin in January 2017. The journal analyses all forms of work and their relation to wider social processes and structures, and to quality of life, and has an impact factor of 2.153, ranking 4/26 in Industrial Relations & Labor.
Neve Isaeva (supervised by Mark Saunders and Alexandra Bristow University of Surrey) received the University’s Michael K. O’Rourke Best Publication Award for her paper published in the Journal of Trust Research. In this article Neve called on trust researchers to engage in epistemological reflection, develop their own awareness of alternative epistemologies and ensure their work draws on and cites relevant research contrary to their preferred epistemological approach.
For full details, see: Isaeva, N., Bachmann, R., Bristow, A. and Saunders, M. N. K. (2015) ‘Why the epistemologies of trust researchers matter’, Journal of Trust Research 5 (2): 153-169.
Raquel Ortega Argiles has won the Regional Studies Association Best Paper Award in Regional Studies 2016 for: Smart Specialisation, Regional Growth and Applications to EU Cohesion Policy, Regional Studies, 49(8), 1291-1302, with P. McCann (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2013.799769)
Mark Saunders has been appointed as Associate Editor of the ‘International Journal of Management Reviews’. The journal publishes authoritative literature surveys and reviews across the management sub disciplines and has an impact factor of 4.85, ranking 5/120 for Business and 7/192 for Management.
Mark Saunders, Smirti Kutaula (Kingston University) and Alvina Gilliani (University of Surrey were runners up in the ECRM Innovation in the Teaching of Research Methodology Excellence Awards for their work on ‘Using storytelling to teach sampling techniques’.
Frank Strobel was awarded the Best Paper prize at the 2nd Indonesian Finance Association International Conference 2016 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia in August, for his paper entitled "Bank dividends, agency costs and shareholder and creditor rights (written jointly with Laettita Lepetit, Celine Meslier and Leo Wardhana).
Publications
Roger Backhouse has had the following paper published in the History of Political Economy journal.
Backhouse, R. E. and Maas, H. (2016) ‘Marginalizing Maclaurin: The attempt to develop an economics of technological progress at MIT, 1940-50’, History of Political Economy 48(3), 423-447.
Abstract: This article traces the attempts of W. Rupert Maclaurin to improve the research profile of economics at MIT through establishing a research project on the economics of innovation, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. The project is important because it marks a significant stage in the transition of economics at MIT from being a department focused exclusively on providing courses for engineers and scientists to one that was to become a major location for research in economics. Through examination of papers held in the Rockefeller archives it documents the difficulties Maclaurin encountered and the failure of the project to draw on the resources of MIT's scientists and engineers in the way he and Rockefeller officials had hoped and reflects on his marginalization in a department increasingly dominated by Paul Samuelson. Maclaurin's interdisciplinary approach to research fell out of favor, and the research profile of the MIT economics department became increasingly monodisciplinary.
Lisa De Propris has had the following paper accepted for publication in Research Policy.
Corradini C. and De Propris L. (2016) Beyond local search: Bridging platforms and inter-sectoral technological integration, Research Policy, online first, forthcoming.
Abstract: This paper explores the dynamics of inter-sectoral technological integration by introducing the concept of bridging platform as a node of pervasive technologies, whose collective broad applicability may enhance the connection between ‘distant’ knowledge by offering a technological coupling. Using data on patents obtained from the CRIOS-PATSTAT database for four EU countries (Germany, UK, France and Italy), we provide empirical evidence that bridging platforms are likely to connect more effectively innovations across distant technological domains, fostering inter-sectoral technological integration and the development of original innovation. Public research organisations are also found to play a crucial role in terms of technological integration and original innovation due to their higher capacity to access and use bridging platforms within their innovation activities.
Jo Duberley and Fiona Carmichael have had the following paper accepted for publication in Gender, Work and Organisation.
Duberley, J. and Carmichael, F. (2016) ‘Career Pathways into Retirement in the UK: Linking Older Women's Pasts to the Present’, Gender, Work and Organisation, DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12144View/
Abstract: Understanding of how women's experiences in retirement are shaped by their pre-retirement lives is limited. In this paper we utilize an innovative mix of measures to examine the link between career histories and expectations and experiences of retirement. Analysis of timeline data capturing the long working lives of a sample of older women identifies five different pathways into retirement. We explore these trajectories in detail to determine how they are shaped and their links to different outcomes in later life. The analysis shows how different career histories unfold and how they shape expectations and experiences of retirement. Long, professional career pathways leave women feeling enabled in retirement, women following more fragmented pathways are more constrained, and some trajectories, including pathways involving transitions into professional careers in later life, can leave older women financially and emotionally vulnerable in older age.
Jo Duberley has alsohad the following paper accepted for publication in ‘Organization’, as well as contributing to The Conversation.
Duberley, J., Carrigan, M., Ferreira, J. and Bosangit, C. (forthcoming) ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend…? Examining Gender and Careers in the Jewellery Industry’, Organization.
Abstract: Using Acker’s (2009) concept of inequality regimes, this paper examines the practices and processes of gender inequality in the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter (BJQ), highlighting the complex and subtle nature of discrimination sometimes at play and the strategies used by those that progress within this context. The project involved in-depth interviews during which participants recounted their career stories. Our research study examines the ways in which men and women in the BJQ account for their careers in order to examine the underlying gender regimes that influence the everyday practices of workers in this context. Our findings suggest that contrary to contemporary images of the creative industries, jewellery making remains deeply traditional with structures and processes that both overtly and covertly disadvantage women workers. Empirically the paper enhances our understanding of the way that this creative cluster operates and examines how that disadvantages particular groups of workers. Theoretically the paper contributes to our knowledge of the use of the concept of gender regimes at a cluster level.
Duberley, J. (2016) 'Britain's great meritocracy gap – why businesses must widen their talent pool', The Conversation, http://theconversation.com/britains-great-meritocracy-gap-why-businesses-must-widen-their-talent-pool-67327
Emanuel Gomes has published a paper in the International Journal of Human Resource Management and Human Resource Management Review.
Cunha, M.P., Fortes, A., Gomes, E., Rego, A. and Rodrigues, F. (forthcoming) ‘Ambidextrous leadership, paradox and contingency: Evidence from Angola’, The International Journal of Human Resource Management. DOI:10.1080/09585192.2016.1201125
Abstract: The study departs from two assumptions. First, it considers that organizations, their leaders and the HRM function are inherently paradoxical and that, in that sense, dealing with paradox is a necessary component of the leadership process which requires ambidexterity capabilities. Second, it explores whether the paradoxes of leadership may manifest differently in different contexts. We explore the emergence of paradox in the leadership of Angolan organizations. Angola is an economy transitioning from a centrally planned to a market mode, and this makes it a rich site for understanding the specificities of ambidextrous paradoxical processes in an under-researched, ‘rest of the world’, context. The findings of our inductive study led to the emergence of four interrelated paradoxes and highlight the importance of ambidextrous paradoxical work as a HRM contingency.
Carmeli. A., Markman. G., Gomes. E., and Zivan, I. (forthcoming) ‘Exploring Micro Socio-Psychological Mechanisms in Buyer-Supplier Relationships: Implications for Inter-Organizational Learning Agility,’ Human Resource Management Review.
Abstract: The nature and patterns of vertical work relationships between buyers and suppliers is a key subject of inquiry in organization and management research. However, the mechanisms conducive to transforming transaction-based relationships into commitment-based relationships remain elusive. Although commitment-based relationships can produce various outcomes, little is known about whether and how these work relationships build and facilitate inter-organizational capabilities and their performance implications. This article presents a theoretical model that clarifies the micro socio-psychological mechanisms by which buyers and suppliers can develop inter-organizational learning agility. By drawing on theoretical insights in the areas of social exchange, micro-foundations, positive work relationships, commitment, and dynamic capabilities, it suggests that three mechanisms – respectful engagement, rich and ongoing communication, and advice seeking and giving – can transition buyer-supplier relations from transactional ties to commitment-based ties. It is argued that relationship commitment is a key to building inter-organizational learning agility by enacting three mechanisms: psychological availability, generativity and reflective reframing. The discussion centers on the fundamentals for developing this stream of research.
Pei Kuang and Tong Wang have had a paper accepted for the journal Economic Inquiry.
Kuang, P. and Wang, T. (forthcoming), ‘Labour market dynamics with searching frictions and fair wage considerations’, Economic Inquiry.
Abstract: Fairness considerations in wage setting can improve the ability of the Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides search and matching model to account for U.S. labour market dynamics. Firms’ production is influenced by workers’ effort input, which depends on whether workers consider the employment relation as fair. A typical worker’s effort is determined in a comparison of individual current wage with wage norms, including the outside option, the individual past wage, and the wage level in the steady state. The fairness considerations in the search framework give rise to endogenous real wage rigidity, and realistic volatilities of unemployment, vacancies, and labour market tightness.
Raquel Ortega Argiles has published the following article and book chapter:
McCann, P. and Ortega Argiles, R. (2016) ‘Smart Specialisation: Insights from the EU Experience and Implications for Other Economies’, Investigaciones Regionales, Nov/Dec 2016.
Abstract: The paper discusses the origins and emerging ideas of smart specialization, and in particular its translation from a non-spatial concept to an explicitly spatial and regional concept. This discussion is then set in the context of debates regarding the nature, rationale, and role of modern innovation policy, and the governance and institutional issues arising are then examined. We extend this discussion to discuss the experience of these issues in EU regions, and the arguments are then broadened to the potential lessons for other parts of the world which are aiming to enhance their innovation potential.
McCann, P. and Ortega Argiles, R. (2016) ‘Smart Specialisation and its role in a reformed EU Cohesion Policy: Innovation, Ideas and Implementation’ in S. Piattoni and L. Poverari (eds.) Handbook on Cohesion Policy in the EU, Edward Elgar Publishers, Cheltenham.
Mark Saunders has had a paper published in the British Journal of Management, and a book chapter published in the Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods on HRM: Innovative techniques.
Saunders, M. N. K. and Townsend, K. (2016), Reporting and Justifying the Number of Interview Participants in Organization and Workplace Research. British Journal of Management. doi:10.1111/1467-8551.12182
This paper has been unlocked for free download from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8551.12182/full
Abstract: In this paper we examine established practice regarding the reporting, justification and number of interview participants chosen within organization and workplace studies. For such qualitative research there is a paucity of discussion across the social sciences, the topic receiving far less attention than its centrality warrants. We analysed 798 articles published in 2003 and 2013 in ten top and second tier academic journals, identifying 248 studies using at least one type of qualitative interview. Participant numbers were contingent on characteristics of the population from which they were chosen and approach to analysis, but not the journal, its tier, editorial base or publication year, the interview type or its duration. Despite lack of transparency in reporting (23.4% of studies did not state participant numbers) we reveal a median of 32.5 participants, numbers ranging from one to 330, and no justification for participant numbers in over half of studies. We discuss implications and, recognizing that different philosophical commitments are likely to imply differing norms, offer recommendations regarding reporting, justification and number of participants. Acknowledging exceptions, dependent upon study purpose and data saliency, these include an organization and workplace research norm of 15−60 participants, alongside credible numbers for planning interview research.
Rojon C., Saunders M. N. K. and McDowall, A. (2016) ‘Using qualitative repertory grid interviews to gather shared perspectives in a sequential mixed methods research design’. In K. Townsend and R. Loudoun (Eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods on HRM: Innovative Techniques, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 163-178
Mark Saunders has had a paper published in the British Journal of Management, and a book chapter published in the Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods on HRM: Innovative techniques.
Vivek Soundararajan, Zaheer Khan and Shlomo Tarba have had a paper accepted for publication in Human Relations.
Soundararajan, V., Khan, Z., and Tarba, S. (forthcoming) ‘Beyond brokering: Sourcing agents, boundary work and working conditions in global supply chains’, Human Relations.
Abstract: The role that sourcing agents, autonomous peripheral actors located in developing economies, play in the governance of working conditions in global supply chains has been greatly underexplored in the literature. The present paper reports on an in-depth qualitative study of garment supply chain that examined the boundary work of Indian sourcing agents aimed at dismantling or bridging the boundaries that affect the interaction between Western buyers and local suppliers, in order to facilitate development and implementation of meaningful working conditions or social relations at work. We identify four types of boundary work that sourcing agents used to manage combinations of accommodative and non-accommodative buyers and suppliers in order to work through boundaries created by buyer’s liability of foreignness: reinforcing, flexing (type 1 and 2), and restoring. We also found four essential conditions for a sourcing agent to become an effective boundary-spanner in practice: acquiring knowledge about the relevant fields and actors, gaining legitimacy in the relevant fields and in the opinion of the parties involved, effectively translating the expectations of each party to the other, and benefiting from satisfying incentives. We contribute to the literature on governance for working conditions in global supply chains, boundary theory, and liability of foreignness.
Scott Taylor has published the following paper and book chapters, as well as having contributed to the Conversation.
Carroll, B., Firth, J., Ford, J. and Taylor, S. (forthcoming) ‘The social construction of leadership studies: Representations of rigour and relevance in textbooks’, Leadership.
Abstract: Considerations of rigour and relevance rarely acknowledge students, learning, or the textbooks many of the academic community use to frame education. Here we explore the construction of meaning around rigour and relevance in four leadership studies textbooks – the two most globally popular leadership textbooks and two recent additions to the field – to explore how these ideas are represented. We read the four texts narratively for structure, purpose, style, and application. We further embed the analysis by considering the cultural positioning of the textbook-as-genre within leadership studies as a field more generally. This exploration of the textbook raises critical questions about rigour, relevance and the relationship constructed between them. From this, we argue for a re-commitment to the genuine ‘text-book’ written to engage students in understanding leadership as a continuing conversation between practices, theories, and contexts, rather than as a repository of rigorous and/or relevant content that lays claim to represent an objective science of leadership studies.
Land, C. and Taylor, S. (forthcoming) ‘Access’, in Cassell, C., Cunliffe, A. and Grandy, G. (eds.) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Business and Management. London: Sage.
Taylor, S. and Young, A. (forthcoming) ‘Leadership: Classic theories to contemporary concepts’, in Curtis, E. and Cullen, J. (eds.) Leadership and Changes for the Health Professional. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Taylor, S. and O. Smolovic-Jones (2016) ‘Can quotas make gender equality happen in politics? Lessons from business’, The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/can-quotas-make-gender-equality-happen-in-politics-lessons-from-business-65971
Ferran Vendrell-Herrero, Emanuel Gomes and John Child have published a paper together with Kamel Mellahi in Journal of World Business.
Vendrell-Herrero, F., Gomes, E., Mellahi, K,and Child, J. (2016) ‘Building international business bridges in geographically isolated areas: The role of Foreign Market Focus and Outward Looking Competences in Latin American SMEs’, Journal of World Business, In Press. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090951616300943
Abstract: This paper focuses on the internationalization of SMEs located in geographically isolated contexts like Latin America. We argue that strategic priorities towards foreign markets, Foreign Market Focus (FMF), as well as “Outward Looking Competences” (OLC) are important factors in enhancing productivity, and ultimately achieving a sustainable competitive presence abroad. FMF and OLC lay the foundation for setting better international business relations with foreign clients and increase opportunities for learning and attaining economies of scale. Results demonstrate the significance of FMF as a means of enhancing productivity only in manufacturing firms. OLC positively moderates the relation between FMF and productivity.