High intergenerational connections: a film-based inquiry

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (12) ◽  
pp. 1298-1315
Author(s):  
Anselmo Ferreira Vasconcelos

Purpose This study aims to increase the understanding about the concept of high-quality connections (HQCs) by examining how it develops between members of different generations. Design/methodology/approach It draws on film-based method to explain how the theory of HQC unfolds, particularly in a context of high intergenerational connection. Findings This study reflects the analysis of a movie that, to a large extent, fits in the HQCs conceptual framework. Rather, all key mechanisms of HQCs concept (i.e. behavioral, cognitive and emotional) were found in the plot of Die Hard 4.0. It provides compelling evidence that films may explore the possibilities of reality including the nuances of the relationships among human beings, despite the fact that it portrays a fictional creation. In doing so, it shows that HQCs are likely to be found – as very often happens in the real life – even in the worst situations. Findings also show that HQCs may be built through the time as individuals start to better know each other, i.e. their styles, behavior, religion preferences, held values, capabilities and interpersonal skills. Research limitations/implications Otherwise, film method does not allow that the research results be generalized. At best, it offers elements to the viewers reflect about. Practical implications Very often individuals are designated to carry out certain tasks along with unknown colleagues with whom they need to interact in a positive manner to accomplish the goals. As a result, organizations should pay close attention to the quality of connections among their employees. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first endeavor toward analyzing the mechanisms of HQCs concept by means of such approach. In doing so, this analysis strongly corroborates HQCs concept functioning.

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings The lack or the inferior quality of formal support programs hampers the socialization of new employees into an organization. This raises the importance of indirect support from company insiders who possess relevant interpersonal skills. Such assistance can help the newcomer perceive an adequate level of psychological safety and thus better equipped to integrate and engage in learning behaviors. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Meng ◽  
Yang Gao ◽  
Yangyang Liu ◽  
Shengfang Lu

Purpose As a short take-off and landing aircraft, FanWing has the capability of being driven under power a short distance from a parking space to the take-off area. The purpose of this paper is to design the take-off control system of FanWing and study the factors that influence the short take-off performance under control. Design/methodology/approach The force analysis of FanWing is studied in the take-off phase. Two take-off control methods are researched, and several factors that influence the short take-off performance are studied under control. Findings The elevator and fan wing control systems are designed. Although the vehicle load increases under the fan wing control, the fan wing control is not a recommended practice in the take-off phase for its sensitivity to the pitch angle command. The additional pitch-down moment has a significant influence on the control system and the short take-off performance that the barycenter variation of FanWing should be considered carefully. Practical implications The presented efforts provide a reference for the location of the center of gravity in designing FanWing. The traditional elevator control is more recommended than the fan wing control in the take-off phase. Originality/value This paper offers a valuable reference on the control system design of FanWing. It also proves that there is an additional pith-down moment that needs to be paid close attention to. Four factors that influence the short take-off performance are compared under control.


Author(s):  
Perttu Salovaara

Purpose It has recently become more acknowledged that there is a quality of “messiness” to the qualitative research process. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the fieldpath approach—a hermeneutically inspired framework—to account for the non-linearity, uncertainty and ambiguity of the research process. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper reviews how the scope of hermeneutics has been partly misunderstood. The paper discusses how the scope of hermeneutics has lately been expanded by works such as Günter Figal’s (2010) Objectivity: The Hermeneutical and Philosophy. Findings The fieldpath approach proposes that a heightened relation to materiality enables the messiness of the process to be preserved, while at the same time offering a way to find one’s footing in the midst of ontologically incomplete phenomena that are still—in a processual fashion—forming and becoming. Research limitations/implications This is a conceptual paper. In addition to the research mentioned here, more studies would be needed to legitimise, test and refine the approach. Practical implications Objectivity provides an additional criterion for researchers to lean on when facing the non-linearity and unexpected turns inherent in the qualitative research process. Social implications The stress on materiality involves an ethical dimension. Post-human ethics are concerned with the future environmental consequences and sustainability of the material world. The way that matter matters in our methodologies is of primary importance. Originality/value First, the paper emphasises that hermeneutics, contrary to the common perception, does offer criteria for evaluating between interpretations. Second, it introduces the notion of hermeneutic objectivity, which stresses the importance of materiality for interpretations. Third, it introduces the fieldpath approach, which, based on the previous criterion of hermeneutic objectivity, allows for the messiness of the research process, while also preserving a tight grip on the hermeneutic imperative of “understanding in a new way”.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anselmo Ferreira Vasconcelos

Purpose Despite the advancement, it appears that much has to be done to clarify the understanding of the effects of the meaning of work (MOW) in the lives. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explore such a theoretical stream by means of the Spiritism Doctrine (SD) tenets. In fact, the spiritual knowledge derived from this religion alludes to aspects worthy of investigation. Design/methodology/approach Religious lens serves as a robust frame to approach the MOW, given that people’s beliefs likely shape their view about work. Toward that end, it examines pivotal aspects of MOW literature and the SD revelations thereof. Findings The wise revelations and teachings from the spirits examined throughout this paper suggest that work embraces one of God’s laws. In this regard, the SD tenets deepen this by providing sound explanations, reflections and arguments about the MOW, as well as highlighting that we all must do the best in the work regardless of the profession or activity. In doing so, this paper is serving the neighbors by fulfilling or at least mitigating their needs and consequently engaging in something indefinitely greater than the own desires, that is, the celestial Father’s wish. Practical implications There is no denying that the knowledge brought by the SD, as a source of transcendental epistemology, has deep implications for workers and organizations likewise. Overall, such knowledge enriches the understanding of a very important theme to human beings through an understudied but also insightful lens. Originality/value Therefore, this essay contributes to the MOW through transcendental epistemology (Maslow, 1993). Rather, it focuses on a very sensitive issue (work) and its corresponding implications to mankind through the knowledge of a spiritual and religious framework. In addition, such endeavor also adds to the field of management, spirituality and religion Interest Group of Academy of Management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheshadri Chatterjee ◽  
Soumya Kanti Ghosh ◽  
Ranjan Chaudhuri ◽  
Bang Nguyen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework to check if an organization is ready to adopt an AI-integrated CRM system. The study also analyzes different situations which can provide a comprehensive check list in the form of indicators that could provide a signal indicating whether the organization is ready to adopt an AI-integrated CRM system by capturing actionable and appropriate data. Design/methodology/approach The paper is a general review, and appropriate literature has been used to support the conceptual framework. Findings The key findings of this study are the different indicators that make up the conceptual framework. This framework can help organizations to check at a glance whether they are ready to adopt AI-integrated CRM system in their organizations. Specifically, it has been identified that different approaches are needed to tackle various types of customer data so that those may be made fit and actionable for appropriate utilization of AI algorithms to facilitate business success of an organization. Practical implications The paper has elaborately discussed the different approaches to be undertaken to calibrate and reorient the various kinds of actionable data and the contemplated challenges one would face in doing so. This would help the practitioners that how the data so captured can be made fit for action and utilization toward application of AI technologies integrated with existing CRM system in an organization. Originality/value This study is claimed to be a unique study to provide a conceptual framework which could help arranging and rearranging of captured data by an organization for making the data fit and ready for use with the help of AI technologies. This successful integration of AI with CRM system can help organizations toward taking quick and automated decision-making without much intervention of human beings.


2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (10) ◽  
pp. 2025-2053
Author(s):  
Markus Wohlfeil ◽  
Anthony Patterson ◽  
Stephen J. Gould

Purpose This paper aims to explain a celebrity’s deep resonance with consumers by unpacking the individual constituents of a celebrity’s polysemic appeal. While celebrities are traditionally theorised as unidimensional semiotic receptacles of cultural meaning, the authors conceptualise them here instead as human beings/performers with a multi-constitutional, polysemic consumer appeal. Design/methodology/approach Supporting evidence is drawn from autoethnographic data collected over a total period of 25 months and structured through a hermeneutic analysis. Findings In rehumanising the celebrity, the study finds that each celebrity offers the individual consumer a unique and very personal parasocial appeal as the performer, the private person behind the public performer, the tangible manifestation of either through products and the social link to other consumers. The stronger these constituents, individually or symbiotically, appeal to the consumer’s personal desires, the more s/he feels emotionally attached to this particular celebrity. Research limitations/implications Although using autoethnography means that the breadth of collected data is limited, the depth of insight this approach garners sufficiently unpacks the polysemic appeal of celebrities to consumers. Practical implications The findings encourage talent agents, publicists and marketing managers to reconsider underlying assumptions in their talent management and/or celebrity endorsement practices. Originality/value While prior research on celebrity appeal has tended to enshrine celebrities in a “dehumanised” structuralist semiosis, which erases the very idea of individualised consumer meanings, this paper reveals the multi-constitutional polysemy of any particular celebrity’s personal appeal as a performer and human being to any particular consumer.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 176-191
Author(s):  
Peter Omondi-Ochieng

Purpose Guided by the resource-based theory, the purpose of this study was to predict the role of football talent in the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) rankings of the men’s national football teams in the Copa America zone. Design/methodology/approach The study used archival data of Copa American national football teams. The dependent variable was FIFA rankings, and the independent variables were football talent (measured by the stocks of amateur footballers, professional footballers and football officials). Statistical analysis was performed using Kendall tau statistic and binary logistic regression. Findings The binary logistic regression results indicated that FIFA rankings were statistically and significantly associated with the stock of football officials and professional footballers – but not amateur footballers. The predictive model explained 80 per cent of the variance. Research limitations/implications The study focused exclusively on the stock of football talent in each nation, and not alternative determinants of national football team competitiveness as economic power and quality of professional football leagues, among others. Practical implications The stocks of professional footballers and football officials are valuable sources of competitive advantage (CA) in national football team rankings. Originality/value The study highlighted the uniqueness and distinctiveness of a nation possessing large stocks of professional footballers which can boost the CA and rankings of Copa American national football teams.


2017 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-293
Author(s):  
Kondwani Wella ◽  
Sheila Webber ◽  
Philippa Levy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on research that uncovered myths about HIV and AIDS held by serodiscordant couples in Malawi, and the sources of these myths. The paper reflects on how the myths affect serodiscordant couples’ engagement with HIV and AIDS information. Design/methodology/approach Van Manen’s (1997) approach to analysis of phenomenological data was used to analyse data from in-depth interviews conducted in Malawi with 21 serodiscordant couples and three individuals who had separated from their partners because of serodiscordance. Findings Serodiscordant couples in Malawi believe and hold on to some inaccurate HIV and AIDS information that can be seen as “myths”. Some of these myths are perpetuated by official HIV and AIDS information when it is translated into the local languages. Other myths derive from social norms of the societies where the couples live. Practical implications The findings of this paper have practical implications for how HIV and AIDS information providers should engage with target audiences to understand the origins of the myths they hold. The findings also imply that some myths have technical, religious, moral and cultural bases which need to be addressed before challenging the myth itself. Originality/value Using real-life descriptions of experiences of HIV and AIDS information provided by serodiscordant couples, the authors reveal how myths can affect engagement with the information. The authors make recommendations on how to address myths in ways that contribute to a positive experience of HIV and AIDS information by serodiscordant couples.


Author(s):  
Mike Wilson

PurposeThe paper aims to report on a new welding technology, TIP TIG.Design/methodology/approachThe principle of operation and benefits of the technology are described together with a typical application.FindingsThe study finds that the technology provides the quality of TIG welding at the speeds of MIG welding, providing significant cost savings to the user.Practical implicationsTIP TIG provides a good opportunity for all users of robotic MIG welding to improve the quality of their product and reduce their costs.Originality/valueThe paper introduces a new and useful technology to the robot industry.


Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Informal learning ties posses scope to play a substantial role in the development of professionals. Creating such ties with different key internal and external stakeholders provides a valuable source of learning opportunities. Different social mechanisms can influence network creation and enhance the quality of learning that emerges as a result. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


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