Conceptual Methodological Approach Research Articles

Abusive School Leadership Practices and Teacher Dissenting Voices: Analysis through Nancy Fraser and Miranda Fricker

Abstract Research notes a significant rise in varied practices of abusive supervision within the schooling context. Abusive leadership is a social justice dilemma which needs sustained confrontation. This qualitative conceptual study provides a philosophical exploration of the practices of abusive school leadership towards teachers with dissenting voices. This paper takes a conceptual methodological approach and deploys dominant social justice theories espoused by Miranda Fricker and Nancy Fraser as underpinning lenses. Extant and established scholarly literature on abusive supervision was identified and critically analysed. In its examination, the guiding research question was: what are the attributes of abusive school leadership and how do such leadership react to voices that are dissenting? This study is significant because there seem to be inadequate scholarly and empirical contributions on abusive school leadership practices towards teacher dissenting voices.

Critical Realist Autoethnography in International Scholarships Impact Research: An Illustrative Proposal

International higher education scholarships can be an impactful tool of development. They have demonstrable potential to advance the knowledge, skills, and networks of individuals, who may then be able to use these outcomes in making significant contributions in their workplaces and societies. This evolving theory of change has rightly guided the growing body of academic research and professional evaluations in this area. However, this academic and grey literature tends to limit investigations to the post-completion stage, often focusing on exploring impact through such neoliberal indicators such as economic return, career progress, and links to the foreign country of study. This exploratory scope and methodological-theoretical design demonstrably limit the extent to which scholarships impact may be understood in terms of its emergence or appreciated in terms of its manifestation. I try to respond to this limitation in this paper; I pilot a critical realist autoethnography methodology in explaining how two recent graduate scholarships have impacted me. The study makes three contributions to this area of research and practice. Empirically, it extends support for current research findings in the area by offering the first scholarly account of a Palestinian's scholarship experiences and impact. Drawing on empirical findings, it demonstrates that scholarships impact is a dynamic, contingent, and co-constitutive process. Methodologically, it illuminates the practice of critical realist autoethnography in both exploring and explaining this process of scholarship impact. Practically, it proposes this alternative conceptual-methodological approach may be a powerful tool of evaluating—and simultaneously optimizing—scholarships impact.

Editorial: Opportunities in the new service marketplace

PurposeThis paper aims to identify the opportunities in the service marketplace that have arisen because of the changes brought about by the global pandemic (COVID-19).Design/methodology/approachA conceptual methodological approach is used to analyze trends in the history of service research and discuss how articles presented in this issue help scholars and practitioners with planning for opportunities and confronting challenges in the new (post COVID-19) service marketplace.FindingsThis special issue puts forth six viewpoints and seven research articles that outline opportunities in the new service marketplace from regional and global perspectives. Further, the research articles presented in this issue identify four opportunities for managers to consider when designing services in the new service marketplace; these are labeled as reassurance and fear reduction, rethinking physical space and supply chains for multichannel service delivery, the rise of local and community importance and resilience building to combat customer discourtesy.Practical implicationsManagers can understand how the pandemic has profoundly and permanently impacted consumers’ perceptions and expectations for service delivery and processes.Originality/valueThis work presents scholars with a historical overview of trends in service research. The challenges posed by the pandemic represent the beginning of a new era in service research thought and practice as many previously held theories and understandings of consumers’ marketplace behaviors have permanently changed because of behavioral changes that transpired during governmental mandated lockdowns.

Совершенствование методологии оценки эффективности деятельности хозяйствующих субъектов в современных условиях

Modern conditions impose special requirements to the assessment of economic entities. Efficiency is an important parameter of the activity of any business. The present research involved a critical analysis of standard methods for assessing the effectiveness of both domestic and foreign practices. The analysis revealed a need to apply new approaches to business efficiency assessment because the standard approach is not systematic and its indicators repeat themselves. The article offers a new conceptual methodological approach to understanding the term efficiency. The new methodological concept is hybrid in nature and includes classical economic, financial, and institutional methods. It also adopts some methods and approaches from management and natural sciences. The authors built a comprehensive model for assessing the effectiveness of an economic entity in modern conditions. It is based on the idea that the optimal methods are those that do not use relative indicators. This model includes three levels of indicators: standard, qualitative, and synergistic. The new approach is systemic and corresponds to modern economic environment, which resolves the issue of relative performance indicators.

Концептуально-методологічний підхід до організаційно-економічного забезпечення інноваційної праці

The current difficult situation in the sphere of innovative labor in Ukraine causes the need for further development and deepening of research on the state of the organizational-economic provision for innovation activity and innovative labor. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the conceptual-methodological approach to the organizational and economic foundations of the provision for innovative labor. It is determined that innovation activity and innovative labor can be considered in modern conditions only in combination and represent altogether an innovative component of enterprise. To ensure the most effective management of innovations at the enterprise, conceptual provisions are developed on the organizational-economic principles of ensuring innovative labor, which are based on an integrated approach that is an integration of the process, functional, system, situational and strategic management approaches. It is concluded that the organizational-economic provision of innovative labor should take into account both the generalization of the theoretical foundations of organizational-economic provision in modern conditions, as well as the substantiation of its elements and relationships according to individual management subsystems, which must be presented in the form of a mechanism. The conceptual-methodological approach to the organizational and economic provision of innovative labor is formed, the methodological basis of which is the provisions of the modern theory of organizations, the humanistic concept of management together with the innovative paradigm and which is based on the system approach. The subjects of organizational-economic provision are innovative labor and innovative component of the enterprise. And the objects, respectively, are special requirements, as result of the transformation of which (in the process of innovation activity) an aggregate of rules and norms, tools and levers of their interaction is formed, aimed at achieving the efficiency of innovative labor.

Towards a Human Capabilities Conscious Enterprise Architecture

This conceptual paper argues that enterprise architecture (EA) should move towards a conscious human-centered conception of the enterprise. Employing the conceptual methodological approach of theory synthesis and drawing on the extant literature in enterprise architecture as well as pertinent social and organizational theories, we suggested foundational propositions that could holistically serve as a theoretical lens for (re)viewing the foundations of EA within a progressive conscious enterprise agenda. The novel contribution of the paper is the introduction of human capabilities approach (HCA) as a method theory, to supplement systems and stakeholder theories, for design and evaluation of enterprise architecture in the modern enterprise. The paper concludes by showing the implications of the propositions for practitioners and researchers.

Of Flesh and Ore: Material Histories and Embodied Geologies

This article explores the constitution of subterranean space in a Bolivian tin mine through an analysis of the discursive practices that materialize differentially valued people and differentially valued rocks. Drawing on archival and ethnographic research, I examine the processes through which tin miners are formed as socially stratified subjects and tin is mattered in its multiple forms—as mineral, as commodity, and as symbolic metal of modernity. Through this analysis, I develop a conceptual–methodological approach that integrates insights from feminist materialisms with commitments recuperated from “old” materialist geographies; I call this approach material history. Using this analytic, I argue that nonliving matters (1) are always historied before becoming materially entangled with human bodies, (2) are unevenly distributed and unevenly valued across volumetric space, and (3) contribute to the social stratification of the humans who labor with them. In the tin mine, racialized and gendered differences manifest in spatial association with differences in ore quality, ore exhaustion, and technologies of extraction. These arguments show how apparently inanimate matters can be counterintuitively influential in shaping human bodies and human social worlds, where subjects and objects are relationally formed, sorted, and ranked. : .

Integrating stakeholder theory and sustainability accounting: A conceptual synthesis

This paper aims at integrating the bodies of literature on stakeholder theory and sustainability accounting. Using the conceptual methodological approach of theory synthesis, stakeholder theory is employed as a method theory to advance sustainability accounting as a domain theory. On this basis the concept of ‘Accounting for Sustainability and Stakeholders’ is developed. This concept highlights which sustainability topics and which stakeholders to consider in accounting for a given organization and how the inclusion of additional stakeholders and topics can contribute to creating value for stakeholders. In conclusion, this paper highlights that an overly broad inclusion of stakeholder groups and sustainability topics can be replaced by a purposeful selection of stakeholders and topics of particular relevance for the specific organization. As an additional advantage, the concept prevents disconnecting sustainability accounting from conventional accounting.

ОЦІНЮВАННЯ ЕКОНОМІЧНОЇ ПОВЕДІНКИ ПРОМИСЛОВИХ ПІДПРИЄМСТВ ЗАЛІЗНИЧНОГО ТРАНСПОРТУ: НАУКОВО-МЕТОДИЧНІ АСПЕКТИ

The article seeks to explore modern business environment for Ukrainian industrial enterprises of railway transport that challenges the development and implementation of mechanisms to intensify economic behaviour management practices in the context of neo-industrial modernization that will facilitate better access to entering new markets, help to attract new consumers and enhance the enterprise competitiveness. It is emphasized that ensuring intensification of economic behavior management for railway transport industry enterprises in the frameworks of neo-industrial modernization is a multidimensional process since the ultimate performance depends on the quality of management decisions and involves the implementation of innovative approaches as well as relies on other factors that determine the effectiveness of business activities. The proposed concept for the intensification of economic behavior management in the railway transport industry has to provide relevant information management support that will guide effective managerial decision making together with offering a mandatory forecast of their economic outcomes, ensuring operational control, etc. It is argued that the intensification of economic behavior management is a driving factor in building a development strategy of railway transport enterprises with due regard to its structural elements and their indicators effects, and accounting for their advantages and disadvantages. The study suggests a conceptual methodological approach to evaluate the economic behavior of industrial enterprises in the sector of railway transport which covers the three phases: preliminary, basic and final. The findings provide a reasoned argument as to the effectiveness of this approach in management decision making and their further implementation in enhancing economic behavior management of the railway transport industry enterprises in the neo-industrial modernization business settings.

Understanding and researching urban extreme poverty: a conceptual–methodological approach

Urban extreme poverty has long been regarded as a vital challenge for policy and practice, but how might we research it? In this article, we set out a two-step approach to identifying and understanding the nature of urban extreme poverty (UEP). We experiment with an approach that does not define UEP in advance but seeks to examine it through a series of dimensions and approaches. Drawing on the long history of research on UEP, we argue that research would benefit from early scoping in context. This scoping begins by examining how UEP surfaces in relation to five dimensions: material, economic, political, spatial and emotional–subjective. From that base, we argue for a focus on the causes and form of UEP through dialogue among four epistemic approaches: political economy, political ecology, feminist urbanism and postcolonial urbanism. We illustrate this approach in relation to two quite distinct cities: Mumbai and Lima.

Real Estate Investment Choices and Decision Support Systems

The evaluation of real estate assets is currently one of the main focal points addressed by territorial marketing strategies, with the view of developing high-performing or competitive cities. Given the complexity of the driving forces that determine the behavior of actors in a real estate market, it is necessary to identify a priori the factors that determine the competitive capacity of a city, to attract investments. The decision support system allows taking into account the key factors that determine the “attractiveness” of real estate investments in competitive urban contexts. This study proposes an integrated complex evaluation model that is able to map out and encapsulate the multidimensional spectrum of factors that shape the attractiveness of alternative real estate options. The conceptual–methodological approach is illustrated by an application of the model to a real-world case study of investment choice in the residential sector of Naples.

Farmland, Farm Credit and Agricultural Output Growth in Kano State, Nigeria: the Moderating Role of Murabahah Finance as a Proposed Framework

The objective of this paper is to propose a model to examine the moderating role of Murabahah finance on farmland, farm credit and agricultural output. Since, agriculture is the science and act of soil utilization, animals and forestry management in respect of food and raw materials for human satisfaction as well as poverty control and economic growth. On the other hand, the Kano state agricultural output is declining all with the socio-economic role of the output in the state economy. This paper proposes a model consider to be used by the ministry of agriculture and financial institutions in Kano state, Nigeria in order to overcome such issues. In addition, this paper introduces Murabahah finance as a new variable into the model and potential moderating variable. Also, this paper used a conceptual methodological approach.

Can Financial Incentives Change Farmers' Motivations? An Agrarian System Approach to Development Pathways at the Nicaraguan Agricultural Frontier

This article offers a conceptual-methodological approach to assess how new institutional frameworks, such as PES (Payments for Ecosystem Services), interact with motivations for land use change at the individual and collective level. Increasing empirical evidence suggests that the effects of payments on inducing long-term behavioural change can vary substantially, depending on how they are integrated in territorial dynamics. We show how individual motivation is the result of collective societal pathways that generate particular opportunities and constraints, as well as guiding ideas and habits that ‘work’ within these pathways. Through an illustrative case study at the agricultural frontier in Nicaragua, we show how an ‘agrarian system’ approach offers a more nuanced understanding of the dynamic interactions on the ground, and allows us to better connect farmers' individual motivations to collective development pathways in that territory. Our case study also demonstrates how a local PES intervention is unlikely to lastingly alter the production system logic of farmers, or stimulate long-term ‘pro-environmental’ behaviour, unless accompanied by other types of policies.

The cross-national comparison of website feature preferences: a practical approach

Tailoring consumer shopping sites to fit diverse national markets requires a grasp of the similarities and differences among those national markets in preferred site features. The past literature indicates five issues that can cloud attempts to gauge the national differences in the preferability of Business-to-Consumer (B2C) site features. This paper proposes the 'Preference Component Perspective', a conceptual-methodological approach to overcome these challenges and more meaningfully assess these national differences. The framework identifies two independent components of site feature preferences (elevation and priority) and provides a means to distinguish the societal-level and individual-level effects. A survey of online shoppers in the USA, the People's Republic of China and Poland demonstrated the approach's ease of application and the validity of its core assumptions in the data sample. It was shown that the approach can yield insights that are valuable to practitioners who devise effective B2C websites for international markets and to marketing/behavioural/information scientists who develop theoretical models of online shopping adoption.

Individual Diagnosis and Remediation of Educational Handicaps Manifested by Learning Disabled Children

During the last decade, professionals in the area of learning disabilities have become increasingly aware that in some instances it may not suffice to use diagnostic data obtained from standardized tests to design or select the most appropriate clinical teaching strategy for each educationally handicapped child. As a possible solution to this problem, a new conceptual-methodological approach, known as the method of equivalence, is introduced. When used with existing diagnostic test instruments, this technique will enable the professional to specify the nature of educational handicaps in precise terms and also to suggest the use of the most appropriate clinical teaching strategy. The usefulness of this conceptual-methodological approach for LD is supported by recently obtained experimental findings using the Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception.