Staff publications (SoM)

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Managing complex projects
(CRC Press, 2024-08-21) Turner, Neil; Davis, Kate; Cantarelli, Chantal C.
Complexity is an issue that affects all projects. Project managers know this, but it can be difficult to express the realities they face in a language that others can easily grasp. In this chapter we draw on research that identifies three different kinds of project complexity – structural, socio-political, and emergent, and look at practical response techniques to these. We offer a complexity framework to help managers deal with these challenges. We then show how this can be used both as a problem-solving tool, and also as a method to draw out lessons learned at gate reviews or at the completion of the work.
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Chapter 8: Fostering project social sustainability through stakeholder inclusion
(Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024-07-09) Di Maddaloni, Francesco; Davis, Kate
In project-based organizations, it is essential to respect the needs and expectations of different stakeholders. Sustainability and social outcomes have gained increasing importance, reflecting the demand for positive results in economic, social, and environmental areas. These results determine the actual value an organization contributes to its stakeholders. Aligning with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, organizations should prioritize sustainable economic growth, infrastructure, reduced urban inequalities, and partnerships in society. Neglecting social sustainability can lead to inequalities and suffering within local communities, posing reputational risks, particularly in complex projects. This chapter emphasizes the significance of stakeholder inclusion in project decision-making for better social sustainability. Project organizations should adopt a strategic and systematic approach, actively involving and harmonizing the interests of all stakeholders to achieve organizational goals and contribute to a cohesive and sustainable world.
Open Access
Work, private, self – towards an integrative framework of accountability: the case of low-status expatriates in precarious employment
(Taylor & Francis, 2024-07-03) Haist, Joshua; Kurth, Philipp; Lau, Annica; Ritter, Monique; Hofmann, Samuel
Felt accountability, the perceived expectation that one’s decisions and actions will be evaluated and rewarded or sanctioned, is a key driver of human behaviour and impacts work-related outcomes such as unethical behaviour and job satisfaction. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of low-status expatriates (LSEs), a vulnerable and neglected group, which is often employed under challenging working conditions in low-status occupations. In this paper, we explore how LSEs experience and manage accountabilities in their often-precarious working lives. We draw on 36 qualitative interviews with LSEs employed in Germany. The data were analysed using a directed content analysis method. Our findings highlight that while LSEs feel less accountable towards stakeholders within their organisation, they experience accountabilities from multiple stakeholders outside their organisation. We demonstrate that while LSEs consider work-related accountabilities, their key accountabilities are rooted in individuals’ private lives and can lead to higher degrees of accountability intensity. This study provides unique insights into the importance of private life accountabilities and how these intersect with accountabilities at work. We offer a revised framework of accountability that includes private life as an important dimension to enhance its applicability to LSEs.
Open Access
Narrative emotions and market crises
(Taylor & Francis, 2024-06-30) Taffler, Richard J.; Agarwal, Vineet; Obring, Maximilian
Robert Shiller highlights the role popular stories play in driving economic behavior and argues the need to analyze these scientifically. However, their impacts are difficult to measure directly and often conflict. We show the strength of such stories resides in the emotions they generate, and that the tenor and persuasiveness of financial narratives and their association with the market can be empirically quantified. Specifically, we textually analyze financial media reports to identify the different powerful investor emotions manifest during three recent extreme market periods, dot.com mania, the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, constructing original context-specific emotion word dictionaries for this purpose. We find investor emotions are associated with up to 52% of market returns and 67% of market uncertainty during these market crises, and provide general evidence that investor emotional dynamics may be time and context invariant.
Open Access
Exploring the determinants of career success after expatriation: a focus on job fit, career adaptability, and expatriate type
(Taylor & Francis, 2024-06-30) Mello, Rodrigo; Suutari, Vesa; Dickmann, Michael
Expatriation significantly influences the career paths of individuals after their international work experience. This study draws on person-environment fit and career construction theories to examine the role of job fit, career adaptability, and expatriate type in shaping both objective and subjective career success. Our 2020 sample comprised 191 expatriates who had worked abroad four to five years prior. This group included both self-initiated and assigned expatriates, as well as repatriates and re-expatriates, providing a broader scope than is typical in expatriation studies. The research reveals that job fit, career adaptability, and expatriate type substantially affect career outcomes. It also identifies that the type of expatriate moderates the relationship between career adaptability and objective career success. Our work extends the applicability of person-environment fit theory and career construction theory within the complex landscape of expatriate careers. The investigation not only deepens our understanding of the factors driving career success post-expatriation but also provides valuable insights to aid the effective management of international careers.
Open Access
Navigating sustainability through institutional change: consolidating and expanding the debate
(European Academy of Management, 2024-06-27) Chikwana, Josephine; Alinaghian, Leila; Razmdoost, Kamran
Sustainability has become a crucial topic of discussion in both academia and practice. One perspective for understanding sustainability is through the lens of institutional change, which emphasises the need to transform norms, values, and practices to fully embrace sustainability. This review article contributes to the ongoing scholarly discourse by synthesising current literature at the intersection of institutional change and sustainability. Utilising a systematic approach, a total of 108 articles were analysed. The review provides a comprehensive understanding of the discourse and categorises existing knowledge into four key themes: triggers for change, change agents, methods for change, and resulting outcomes. This reveals the multifaceted nature of sustainability attainment through institutional change. Additionally, the review introduces four distinct institutional change models that explore change by considering the interaction between existing institutions and new sustainable institutions during the change process. This highlights the role of the existing institutional framework and the complexity of achieving sustainability. Finally, the review identifies research gaps and suggests future directions for further research in this field.
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Embracing social procurement: an institutional work perspective on implementation in procurement practices
(European Operations Management Association (EurOMA), 2024-07-03) Chikwana, Josephine; Alinaghian, Leila; Razmdoost, Kamran
Organisations are increasingly using their purchasing power to create social value, a practice known as social procurement. This involves adapting existing procurement practices to incorporate social norms and practices. However, this process can lead to tensions and conflicts, requiring organisations to balance the priorities of different procurement practices. This study uses an institutional work lens to examine how organisations change and alter existing practices to navigate the complexity of integrating social procurement and traditional procurement practices. An analysis of six case studies reveals that organisations use various strategies of institutional work, which are influenced by contextual factors.
Open Access
Managing disruptions in complex projects: the antifragility hierarchy
(European Academy of Management (EURAM), 2024-06-28) Usher, Greg; Cantarelli, Chantal C.; Davis, Kate; Pinto, Jeffrey K.; Turner, Neil
Projects are prone to a variety of disruptions across their development cycle, requiring that effective organizations develop strategies for proactively recognizing disruption likelihood and swiftly responding to these events. This paper explores a hierarchy of responses to disruption, based on Taleb’s (2012) theory of antifragile system behavior. Following this reasoning, we suggest that when faced with project disruptions, organizations need to investigate the means to trigger a “convex” response that increases value through antifragile thinking. We propose an “antifragile hierarchy” in which four key responses to project disruption are demonstrated, with a range of strategies available for addressing these disruptions. This hierarchy offers a novel conceptualization of responses to project disruption events, suggesting that the options available to organizations facing disruptions range from fragile (the least effective) to antifragile (the most constructive). Finally, we offer a set of strategies for effectively responding to disruptions to promote antifragility in projects.
Open Access
Touching the void: The loss of containment and the space between operational and entrepreneurial leadership in the K2 disaster
(European Academy of Management (EURAM), 2024-06-28) Cantarelli, Chantal C.; Davis, Kate; Kutsch, Elmar; Turner, Neil; Denyer, David; Turnbull James, Kim
In this paper, we seek to understand how members of a collective facing a novel, unprecedented challenge can lose an integrated and realistic connection to the people, events, opportunities, and threats around them. Using extensive data, including interviews with survivors and unique video footage we analyze how eleven experienced climbers lost their lives in 2008 attempting to summit K2, the world’s second-highest mountain. Existing theories of leadership and information-processing views of human cognition do not fully explain observations from our qualitative study. However, containment and social defense constructs suggest how and why people failed to respond to the impending disaster. We offer four key findings. First, destabilizing conditions can erode operational leadership resulting in a breakdown of the traditional sanctuaries of procedure, role clarity, hierarchy, and positional authority. Second, despite clear, escalating threats and the potential for impending disaster, individual and collective responsiveness, proactivity, and adaption can fail to materialize. Third, people’s responses to novel, unprecedented circumstances are deeply connected to and reliant on the ways collectives develop to contain anxiety. Finally, loss of containment can result in a void, disabling people from confronting and adapting to challenging situations realistically and competently.
Open Access
Chapter: Dialectical perspective of truce-making processes: integrating women into close combat roles in the Armed Forces
(Emerald, 2024-07-22) Alvarenga, Alessandro; Safavi, Mehdi; Burke, Gary T.
This paper investigates the intricate process of integrating historically excluded social groups into long-established routines. Drawing on a dialectical perspective, the research explores how persistence and change emerge through the interplay of opposing forces, shedding light on the dynamics of integrating new participants while ensuring stability in established routines. The empirical focus is on an Armed Forces’ ground combat training (GCT) course, examining the integration of the first female officers after the formal ban on their participation in close-combat roles was lifted. The findings reveal a nuanced evolution of routine adaptation and truce reformation, characterized by three dialectical cycles: tentative truces, experimental truces, and enactment truces. These cycles involve negotiations between continuity and reformation, accommodation and resistance, and modification and preservation, uncovering a dialectical dance where organizational actors invest intense effort in maintaining the status quo while accommodating ambiguity and settling tensions. The findings extend our understanding of routine dynamics by illuminating the performative aspect of truce-making, highlighting the effortful processes involved in accommodating new participants. This paper establishes a connection between routines and dialectics, providing novel avenues for exploring complex organizational challenges and emphasizing micro-strategies employed by routine participants to address differences in practice. It also contributes to the field of organizational inclusion by offering a dialectical understanding of integration, showcasing the intricate dynamics involved in integrating historically excluded groups into established routines.
Embargo
Become a detective
(Association for Project Management (APM), 2024-06-30) Davis, Kate
Open Access
We must dismantle the invisible career barriers in HE
(Times Higher Education, 2021-08-25) Jarrett, Rebecca
On the surface, universities’ recruitment and selection practices appear to be highly equitable and transparent – but dig under the surface and there are hidden barriers to certain groups who continue to be underrepresented in academic roles.
Open Access
Working anytime and anywhere: a contemporary behavioral phenomenon
(Frontiers, 2024-06-19) Schoellbauer, Julia; Kelliher, Clare; Hartner-Tiefenthaler, Martina
Work flexibilization enables office employees and knowledge workers to work anytime and anywhere, including outside of their expected working times. In this Research Topic, we assemble seven original papers presenting theoretical considerations and empirical findings on the psychological implications of “working anytime and anywhere”. Drawing on border theory (Clark, 2000), Steffens et al. characterize the broad concept of “work-life-blending” in terms of four interlinked components: (I) the two domains of work and private life; (II) the dynamic interplay between these domains; and (III) the individual and (IV) interindividual dynamics (e.g., within a family) determining boundary segmentation strategies. The six other papers offer insights on “working anytime and anywhere” by discussing workers' flexible work activities (Jiang et al.; Ma et al.; Yeves et al.) and extended work activities (Hendrikx et al.; Mueller et al.; Schoellbauer et al.).
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Chapter 16: Teaching sustainability: More than just a game
(Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024-05-21) Watson, Rosina; Adams, Gemma; Borrelli, Rosina
Achieving a sustainable future involves rethinking how we live, work, and do business, and understanding the steps people and organisations can take to drive these changes. This involves having a vision of what a just and sustainable future could look like, seeing business as part of an interconnected system, taking bold decisions and collaborating with others. The Exploring Sustainable Futures game is a role-playing learning experience that teaches these skills. Participants experience how the interrelated actions of businesses, government and citizens shape the future, in the context of four possible scenarios of a sustainable future by 2050. We outline how the design and delivery of the game teaches critical competencies for sustainability. We offer practical guidance on playing the game with management students and executive leadership teams. We present emerging evidence on the impact of game play on participants, and recommend more participatory methods for evaluating learning outcomes.
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The thousand faces of beauty: How credible storytelling unlocks disability representation in inclusive luxury fashion branding
(Elsevier, 2024-05-31) Lee, Zoe; Alwi, Sharifah Faridah Syed; Gambetti, Rossella
The increasing popularity of inclusive marketing as part of the broader strategies of brand activism, linked to the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) movement, is creating new opportunities for luxury fashion brands to signal their responsibility and openness when it comes to these issues. However, such inclusivity initiatives can lead to consumer backlash when luxury brands rely on perfectionism and self-esteem to elicit admiration and desirability. We ask whether weaving models with disabilities into brand narratives contributes to positive consumer responses. Using signaling theory, our study employs a structural equation modeling approach to show that, despite the negative effect of perceived brand inclusivity on consumers’ willingness to buy, the serial mediation by transportation into brand stories and advertising credibility flips the effect to positive. By doing so, this study also extends extant literature on inclusive advertising in luxury fashion by going beyond dominant manifestations of inclusivity tackling feminism and LGBTQAI + rights.
Open Access
Artificial Intelligence in education: let’s ChatGPT about it
(Liverpool University Press, 2024-05-29) Davies, Jennifer; Forster, Rick; Menzies, Laura; Tickle, Matthew; Misopoulos, Fotios
Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically the rapid rise of Natural Language Processing (NLP) platforms such as Open AI’s Chat GPT3.5, are already having a major impact on higher education institutions. There are significant concerns within academic communities about the threats such platforms pose to academic integrity. Many HE institutions have reacted quickly, announcing policies banning the use of AI software in the creation of assignment responses. Some are planning to return to strictly exam-based modes of assessment. In this article we reflect upon these recent events and how it has impacted our own teaching practice in the field of business management. We propose some alternative ways of thinking about these recent developments and focus on the opportunities that these AI platforms have to offer rather than the threats they pose.
Open Access
Building higher value-added firm practices in challenging contexts: formal networks and talent management in Turkey
(Sage, 2024-05-29) Demirbag, Mehmet; Tatoglu, Ekrem; Wood, Geoffrey; Glaister, Alison J.; Zaim, Selim; Nair, Smitha R.
Where do high-impact human resources management practices thrive, and how do they make a difference in environments with limited institutional support? This study delves into the realm of talent management (TM) in Turkey, where institutional coverage is incomplete and unstable. Drawing on survey data, we explore the conditions under which TM succeeds, supplementing previous research on internal networks by examining the impact of external networks that encompass the entire firm. We find that when firms have closer ties with customers, suppliers and competitors (and hence, the basis for formal network tie building), TM is more prevalent and more likely to be successful. While conventional wisdom in comparative institutional literature suggests that such dense ties might be less effective in emerging markets owing to the absence of advanced complementarities found in mature economies, our study challenges these assumptions. In the eyes of managers, TM is not merely a tool to overcome disadvantages; it is perceived as a source of opportunities. This prompts a critical question: what specific advantages does the emerging economy system confer on firms embracing TM? Our study seeks to unravel these dynamics and contribute to a deeper understanding of the interplay between institutional contexts and TM.
Open Access
Identifying the exaptation potential of supply chain resilience capabilities during COVID-19: insights from Australia
(Taylor and Francis, 2024-05-19) Herold, David M.; Pratavierac, Lorenzo Bruno; Desouza, Kevin C.
What happens to newly built resilience capabilities when the pandemic is over? Using the concept of exaptation, we investigate how supply chain organizations have repurposed supply chain resilience capabilities post-pandemic. In particular, we examine the degree of ambidexterity capabilities to identify the exaptation potential from the newly acquired supply chain resilience capabilities during a disruptive event. In this paper, we (1) adopt a framework that depicts four types of different exaptation potential for supply resilience based on the management constructs of exploitation and exploration capabilities and (2) use the results from a related survey among 447 supply chain managers in Australia to subsequently analyse the exaptation potentials post COVID-19. The integration of the exaptation potential into supply chain literature opens a new chapter on how resilience capabilities are utilized, and we found that the majority of supply chains are able to simultaneously pursue and develop exploitative and exploratory capabilities.
Open Access
Achieving sustainable development goals through common-good HRM: Context, approach and practice
(SAGE, 2024-05-04) Aust, Ina; Cooke, Fang Lee; Muller-Camen, Michael; Wood, Geoffrey
This introduction to the special issue Achieving Sustainable Development Goals through Common-Good HRM: Context, approach and practice draws the links between the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the concept of Common-Good HRM and the practice of human resource management (HRM) to extend intellectual and empirical insights into this important field. Particular attention is accorded to the collective social and environmental dimensions of SDGs and the place of HRM in contributing to the ‘common good’ within and beyond the workplace. Firms may create space and incentives for HRM to promote sustainability, or actively work to constrain meaningful action in this regard. This collection brings together a broad cross-section of articles dealing with the SDGs and HRM, identifying emerging common ground and contestation as a basis for future HRM theory building, empirical enquiry and practice.
Open Access
Temporal perceptions and tensions in production management
(Elsevier, 2024-05-06) Aitken, James; Deakins, Eric; Skipworth, Heather; Cole, Rosanna
This study, through conducting a micro-level analysis of temporal dimensions, identified divergent temporalities between managers who establish temporal practices, and operators who work within the established norms. Data collected from three organizations experiencing production-related temporal operating tensions were triangulated across a survey, semi-structured interviews and observations and supported by secondary data. Four temporal operating tensions, that reflect gaps between managerial and operator temporal understandings, were identified: Efficiency versus Effectiveness; Process Standardization versus Process Improvement; Synchronization versus Autonomy; and Control versus Flexibility. This research identifies resulting temporal operating tensions and potential mitigation approaches at the junction of managerial practices and operator activities, illustrating the importance of understanding tensions at the micro-level.