Micro-level Processes Research Articles

Sell‐side analysts as social intermediaries

AbstractRecent research on sell‐side analysts emphasizes the centrality of social ties and social interactions to what they do. However, we know little about how analysts create or maintain relationships over both the short and long terms. We remedy that in this qualitative study by illustrating the microlevel processes that analysts engage in as part of developing a network of relations around them. Starting from the premise that economic actions are embedded in social relations and drawing on interviews with analysts, fund managers, and investor relations officers in China, we show how analysts forge both weak and strong social ties to create an infrastructure of social networks that is foundational to information intermediation. This perspective broadens our understanding of sell‐side analysts as social, rather than solely information, intermediaries and highlights how information asymmetries often have a social basis.

Bringing identities to the table: Exploring conversational practices of vegetarians and vegans at flashpoints in interaction with meat-eaters

ABSTRACT Although vegetarian and vegan (veg*an) diets can have various health, environmental and animal welfare benefits, they remain socially contentious. Despite the fundamentally social nature of eating, in situ investigations of the social-interactional elements of dietary identities have so far been lacking. Using a recently developed remotely moderated focus group design, we explore (across 25 discussions involving 122 participants) the discursive management of veg*an ‘identity flashpoints’ during discussion with meat-eaters. Our discursive analyses explore how these moments in conversation arise and are handled in real-time within the unfolding interaction. We demonstrate how two particularly interactionally consequential features of veg*an accounts of their practice become constructed within these encounters. Firstly, personal accounts of veg*anism are interactionally preferred to moral accounts. Secondly, demonstrating continued liking of meat was necessary to be met with group acceptance among majority meat-eating groups. These features shed light on the social interactional perils of veg*an attempts to engage in persuasion with meat-eaters, particularly those based on moral grounds. Our novel methodology affords detailed analyses of how veg*ans navigate the performance of their identities in their daily interactions with dietary outgroups, providing insight into micro-level processes that might underpin, or hamper, processes of societal change in the dietary domain.

Sufficiency for PSS tracking gait disorders in multiple sclerosis: A managerial perspective

This study primarily aimed to explore the capabilities of digitalisation in the healthcare context, focusing on a specific disease. In this case, the study examined the potential of remote monitoring of gait to address the sensitivity of multiple sclerosis progression to gait characteristics by adopting a non-invasive approach to remotely quantify gait disturbances in a patient's daily life. To better understand the managerial aspects associated with this approach, the researchers conducted a literature review along with a set of semi-structured interviews. The target population included MS patients as well as the key agents involved in their care: patients' family members, neurologists, MS nurses, physiotherapists, medical directors, and pharmacist. The study identifies the perceived barriers and drivers that could contribute to the successful deployment of PSS remote gait monitoring as a healthcare service: i) At mega-level governance. Implications on privacy and security data are notable barriers missing on the speech. ii) At macro level, funding is highlighted as main barrier. The cost and lack of health system subsidies may render initiatives unsustainable, as emphasised by the interviewees. iii) At meso level, useable data is recognised as a driver. The data collection process can align with diverse interests to create value and business opportunities for the ecosystem actors, enhance care, attract stakeholders, such as insurers and pharma, and form partnerships. iv) At micro-level processes, we find two potential barriers: wearable device and app usability (comfort, navigation, efficiency) and organisational/behavioural aspects (training, digital affinity, skills), which are crucial for value creation in innovation ecosystems among patients and healthcare professionals. Finally, we find an interesting gap in the literature and interviews. Stakeholders' limited awareness of technological demands, especially from information technologies, for a successful long-term service, can be consider two key barriers for PSS.

Effect of clinical engagement on value, standardisation, decision-making and savings in NHS product procurement.

UK healthcare expenditure is now £193.8 billion a year. The procurement function is seen as central to driving efficiencies within the NHS. This comes with an increasing onus on clinicians, including nurses and allied health professionals, to accept procurement outcomes to realise efficiency savings, with or without prior engagement. This empirical study seeks to examine whether clinical engagement in the procurement of healthcare products in the NHS is necessary to achieve value, savings and standardisation; it will thereby address a gap in the research. A multi-method qualitative case study design was used, which included a survey and eight semi-structured interviews. Results identified three factors that influence the achievement of value, savings and standardisation around clinical engagement: micro-level processes for clinical engagement; clinical stakeholders and clinical procurement professionals as experts at the centre of procurement activity; and clinical value in standardisation. A shift away from standardisation to resilience was identified, resulting from current market supply pressures. This research brings empirically derived findings to address gaps in research, supports the benefit of clinical engagement through specific forums for collaboration at a trust level and provides a clinical/expert impact/preference matrix as a resource for procurement professionals to facilitate clinical engagement.

Unraveling power-law scaling through exponential cell division dynamics

A primary objective of biology is the development of universal laws that define how organic form develops and how it evolves as a function of size, both ontogenetically and across evolutionary time. Scaling theory has been essential in reaching this goal by giving a complete perspective point, particularly in illuminating the fundamental biological features produced within scaling exponents defining families of equations. Nonetheless, the theoretical basis of the allometric equation within scaling theory are inadequately explained, particularly when it comes to establishing links between micro-level processes at the cellular level and macro-level phenomena. We proposed an unlimited cell bipartition, resulting in an exponential growth in cell numbers during an individual’s lifespan, to bridge this conceptual gap between cellular processes and allometric scaling. The power-law scaling between body mass and organ weight was produced by the synchronous exponential increments and the allometric exponent is rate of logarithmic cell proliferation rate. Substituting organ weight for erythrocyte weight aided in the development of a power-law scaling relationship between body mass and metabolic rate. Furthermore, it is critical to understand how cell size affects the exponent in power-law scaling. We find that a bigger exponent will result from an increase in the average weight of organ cells or a decrease in the average weight of all cells. Furthermore, cell proliferation dynamics showed a complex exponential scaling between body mass and longevity, defying the previously reported power-law scaling. We discovered a quadratic link between longevity and logarithmic body mass. Notably, all of the parameters included in these relationships are explained by indices linked to cell division and embryonic development. This research adds to our understanding of the complex interaction between cellular processes and overarching scaling phenomena in biology.

Key stakeholder perceived value’s influence on autonomous vehicles’ privacy and security governance – an evolutionary analysis based on the prospect theory

Purpose The promotion of autonomous vehicles introduces privacy and security risks, underscoring the pressing need for responsible innovation implementation. To more effectively address the societal risks posed by autonomous vehicles, considering collaborative engagement of key stakeholders is essential. This study aims to provide insights into the governance of potential privacy and security issues in the innovation of autonomous driving technology by analyzing the micro-level decision-making processes of various stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach For this study, the authors use a nuanced approach, integrating key stakeholder theory, perceived value theory and prospect theory. The study constructs a model based on evolutionary game for the privacy and security governance mechanism of autonomous vehicles, involving enterprises, governments and consumers. Findings The governance of privacy and security in autonomous driving technology is influenced by key stakeholders’ decision-making behaviors and pivotal factors such as perceived value factors. The study finds that the governmental is influenced to a lesser extent by the decisions of other stakeholders, and factors such as risk preference coefficient, which contribute to perceived value, have a more significant influence than appearance factors like participation costs. Research limitations/implications This study lacks an investigation into the risk sensitivity of various stakeholders in different scenarios. Originality/value The study delineates the roles and behaviors of key stakeholders and contributes valuable insights toward addressing pertinent risk concerns within the governance of autonomous vehicles. Through the study, the practical application of Responsible Innovation theory has been enriched, addressing the shortcomings in the analysis of micro-level processes within the framework of evolutionary game.

Handcrafted Careers: How Workers Navigate Racialized Career Pathways in the Craft Beer Industry

Abstract What do work career dynamics in contemporary labor settings tell us about how racism operates in ways that go beyond the explicitly exclusionary actions of management? Building on theories of racialized organizations, this research offers a ground-level examination of the career pathways of craft beer workers in the United States. Drawing on 107 in-depth interviews and two years of ethnographic fieldwork, I describe how workers engage in employment micro-transitions along two unequal career pathways—the creative pathway and the hard labor pathway—that are both racialized and classed. White men and men of color use their respective access to key resources valued at different stages of the employment process to navigate their careers in this industry. Yet because many of the resources that advantage the former are inconspicuous, White men move into desirable jobs of creative authority in ways that appear natural and well-deserved rather than discriminatory. I elaborate on how the framework of employment micro-transitions and racialized career pathways can offer insight into the micro-level processes of social inequality that accumulate within today’s work settings.

Russia’s Minority Institutions, Ethnic Boundaries, and Social-Humanitarian Work: A Case of Collective Responsibility?

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the interconnection of ethnic boundary-making and collective responsibility, with reference to the social-humanitarian work of Russia’s ethnic minority organizations. Employing data from interviews with minority representatives, it shows that the notion of collective responsibility has played a role in reproducing (symbolic) ethnic boundaries, through the interplay of three factors: ethnic institutions, social networks and power distribution. These processes unfold in a sociopolitical context that places an emphasis on stability and security. Meanwhile, macro-level dynamics (state-endorsed discourses and structural conditions) interact with micro-level processes (minority representatives' experiences and actions) – both impacting upon Russia’s nationalities policy.

Corrosion beneath the surface? The emotional navigation of managerialist regulation in German welfare organizations

PurposeRegarding how the public regulation of human services is perceived within welfare organizations and how the latter cope with it, the role of emotions (as mediators between structure and agency) proves highly relevant while often being hidden beneath the surface. This article shows how a specific approach to such regulation – here: managerialism – may impact on “emotional regimes” at the organizational and individual level, affecting the attainment of organizational goals and workers' health.Design/methodology/approachThe article primarily draws on multiple qualitative case studies across two welfare sectors (four organizations) in Germany (continuing education/active inclusion; long-term care). The study research was conducted between 2020 and 2022 and based on 36 interviews with caseworkers and managers, focus group interviews and expert dialogues at industry level.FindingsThe results suggest that the managerialist regulation of welfare services breeds complex and ambiguous emotional regimes. Business-like management techniques elicit various emotions, affecting the motivational basis of human service work. While the experience of hard challenges may raise positive feelings, coping patterns often put strain on organizations and staff alike. In the short run, related emotional regimes tend to make service delivery proceed smoothly, yet in the long run they may have corrosive effects and problematic repercussions on macro-level developments.Originality/valueThe study highlights the role of emotions in publicly regulated human service settings by intermingling macro- and micro-level processes and thereby broadens the perspective of welfare state research as it reveals the impact of (managerialist) regulation on the dynamic organizational chemistry of such settings.

Qualitative Inquiry into the Meanings of Higher Education:Implications for Developments in Education and Social Integration in Hong Kong in the Post-Covid-19 Period

The pursuit of equitable education is key to a government’s regulation and allocation of life-chances, which enables social integration. Yet, evidence of the diminishing returns of degrees and of the “skills mismatch” between higher education training and labour market requirements casts doubts on the role of higher educational institutions in facilitating social mobility. This paper draws upon the findings of 40 qualitative interviews with young people conducted in 2018 in Hong Kong to shed light on the micro-level processes in which higher education training is translated into graduate employment outcomes. Findings comparing two sets of higher education graduates’ interview narratives are presented. Assumptions of the logic of human capital theory are questioned from the “positional” and the “processual” perspectives on graduate employability. The discussion unpacks the meanings of “skills mismatch” and “graduate employability,” and foregrounds the assumptions of the differential values assigned to skills and knowledges of different kinds in the local higher education system. With the insights drawn, this paper concludes with a reflection on the relevance of higher education to our understanding of social mobility and social integration in post-Covid-19 Hong Kong.

Back to Origins: Rediscovering the Role of Individuals in the Uppsala Model

For 40 years, the Uppsala model has focused on the internationalization of companies, considering the individual level of analysis as a black box. Recently, the model has been criticized by scholars in that regard, and its authors are consequently introducing micro-level processes in some dimensions. But is it possible to fully integrate the micro-level into the Uppsala model? By developing a systematic literature review, our article aims to open this black box. Along with methodological contributions, we rediscover the role of individuals, show how the model can integrate them, develop a comprehensive micro-foundational approach and suggest future research paths.

Conceptualising ‘street-level’ urban design governance in Scotland

This article develops ‘street-level bureaucracy’ theory to conceptualise how policy implementation within urban design governance is shared among actors whose role transcends sectoral responsibilities and motivations. It presents case study research with a Scottish local authority which has made a strategic investment in a placemaking policy agenda, including the creation of an influential design review panel of volunteer experts which exemplifies the wider embrace of private capacity within public governance. The paper identifies the distinctive role of design review panel members in street-level implementation, and shows how their discretion is shaped simultaneously by public and private interests. It concludes that understanding and utilising these micro-level processes provides opportunities for conceptualising policy implementation within a neoliberalising urban governance context, and for addressing the implementation gap between the aims of public urban design policy and the realities of delivery.

‘Fit-to-transform’: An institutional perspective on the empowerment of clothing product-service systems

Innovative product-service systems (PSS) are to play an important role in the transition to the circular economy. While PSS break with consumer ownership and hold potential for sustainability, scholars identified dominant consumer preferences as obstacles to widespread diffusion. Therefore it remains unclear how these myriad emerging niches are trying to gain foothold in dominant regimes. This paper develops a micro-oriented framework for studying niche empowerment to provide an "insider" view on the empowerment process of clothing PSS. The analytic framework centers on tracing various forms of institutional work (relational, symbolic, material) that niche actors perform in relation to dominant institutional logics of the regime. Based on the results, this study proposes a pattern of "fit-to-transform" empowerment and substantiates it through three micro-dynamics: discursive hybridization, valued preference amplification, normative camouflaging. As such this paper contributes to understanding the micro-level processes involved in actor's attempts to make innovations competitive in regime environments.

Actor roles emergence through actor engagement: an SD logic perspective

PurposeEmergence is a key concept in service-dominant (SD) logic; however, the literature is neonatal on the underlying mechanisms that lead to emergence within service ecosystems. This study aims to address the call by Vargo et al. (2022) for understanding the role of actor engagement in emergence of novel outcomes, by identifying a process of how various actor roles in entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) emerge as resource through the actor engagement.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a longitudinal design, this study conduct interviews from 20 respondents over eight months in three phases (group interviews, post-training, post-funding). This study analyzes the respondents’ engagement in an entrepreneurial service context. This study uses qualitative inductive approach and thematic analysis.FindingsResults show that actor roles emerge as role expectations from essential provider and beneficiary position in a service ecosystem through actor role readiness, manifested as engagement properties in the actor engagement process. This study identifies five actor roles and their corresponding role readiness dimensions that emerge. Based on these propositions through which the authors position generic actor roles emergence within the actor engagement process in a service ecosystem.Originality/valueThis paper advances the understanding of micro-level process in emergence literature in SD logic by providing a conceptual understanding of emergence of actor roles as a resource through actor engagement. By grounding the study in EE, this study provides empirical evidence to the underlying mechanisms at the micro level of resource emergence process in a service ecosystem.

Towards collaborative planning: deliberative knowledge utilisation and conflict resolution in urban regeneration in South China

Urban regeneration in post-reform China has become a fertile ground for the transition towards collaborative planning, which serves as a powerful tool for managing conflicts and addressing complex urban challenges. This article aims to delve into the micro-level processes that underpin the emergence of collaborative planning in practical urban regeneration projects in China. By shedding light on these micro-level processes of conflict resolution, we aim to provide a deeper understanding of how collaborative planning is implemented within the Chinese authoritarian context. Deliberative knowledge utilisation is intricately interwoven with the process of problem framing, exerting a significant influence on how conflicts are approached and ultimately resolved. We employ framing analysis as an analytical approach to demonstrate how problem framing is shaped by deliberative knowledge utilisation and is discursively constructed, drawing on empirical studies of the contentious Enning Road case in Guangzhou. Regarding the problem framing related to the legitimacy of demolition and planning, institutional knowledge pertaining to planning leg islation and administrative procedures was intentionally wielded by the media and local residents to challenge the legitimacy of demolition. Concerning the problem framing related to the preservation of historic buildings, local knowledge was actively harnessed and deliberately employed by residents and the media to underscore the historical and cultural significance of the neighbourhood. Regarding problem framing centred on resistance to resettlement and eviction, residents intentionally incorporated institutional knowledge when composing and submitting petition letters. These three lines of problem framing, grounded in deliberative knowledge utilisation, significantly impact power dynamics and facilitate the incremental transition towards collaborative planning, which emerges as a gradual process marked by experimentation and the resolution of conflicts.

Reactivity toward daily events: Intraindividual variability and change in recurrent depression – A measurement burst study

In Major Depressive Disorder, first evidence shows heightened mood-reactivity toward daily events. Related longitudinal studies in remitted patients with recurrent major depression are lacking. Long-term changes in such short-term within-person associations can be analysed via measurement burst designs. Two bursts, separated by approximately 4.4 years, consisted of a baseline session and an Ambulatory Assessment (burst-1: 3 days, burst-2: 5 days). Via smartphone, 54 initially remitted patients with recurrent major depression indicated their negative and positive affect, rumination, self-acceptance, and the occurrence of negative and positive daily events ten times and collected saliva cortisol samples five times per day. In bursts with higher depression levels, patients showed blunted negative affect- and cortisol-reactivity and stronger decreases in positive affect and self-acceptance toward negative daily events, as well as stronger increases in self-acceptance following positive daily events. However, patients with higher depression levels demonstrated stronger ruminative stress-reactivity within bursts. Furthermore, patients with higher depression levels showed an increase of affective stress-reactivity over bursts, such that negative affect more strongly increased and positive affect more strongly decreased following negative daily events over bursts. Following positive daily events, patients with higher depression levels showed stronger decreases in negative affect within bursts and a decrease of self-acceptance-reactivity over bursts. To conclude, measurement burst designs enable to examine intraindividual variability and change of micro-level processes, and possible moderators thereof, potentially providing prognostic information for the course of recurrent major depression.

The production-protection nexus: How political-economic processes influence prospects for transformative change in human-wildlife interactions

This article advances a novel analytical framework for investigating the influence of political-economic processes in human-wildlife interactions (HWI) to support efforts to transform wildlife conservation governance. To date, the majority of research and advocacy addressing HWI focuses on micro-level processes, while even the small body of existing literature exploring social dimensions of such interactions has largely neglected attention to political-economic forces. This is consonant with efforts to transform conservation policy and practice more broadly, which tend to emphasize “circular” change within current political-economic structures rather than “axial” transformation aiming to transcend these structures themselves. Our analysis thus advances understanding of potential for axial transformation in HWI via confrontation with, and “unmaking” of, constraining political-economic structures. It does so through cross-site analysis of conservation policy and practice in relation to three apex predator species (lions, jaguars and wolves) in varied geographic and socio-political contexts, grounded in qualitative ethnographic study within the different sites by members of an international research team. We explore how the relative power of different political-economic interests within each case influences how the animals are perceived and valued, and how this in turn influences conservation interventions and their impact on HWI within these spaces. We term this analysis of the “production-protection nexus” (the interrelation between process of resource extraction and conservation, respectively) in rural landscapes. We emphasize importance of attention to this formative nexus both within and across specific locales in growing global efforts to transform situations of human-wildlife conflict into less contentious coexistence.

"How Do Municipal Managers Describe Improving the Services Provided to Drug Death-Bereaved Persons?" a Qualitative Study.

Bereavement following drug-related losses is potentially traumatizing and may cause adverse health outcomes. These bereaved experiences are unacknowledged and omitted in municipal health and welfare service delivery. Reflexive thematic analysis was applied to six focus group interviews with 26 municipal managers. Knowledge about municipal managers' perspectives for improving psychosocial follow-up to drug-death-bereaved persons was perceived as vital for improving the quality of public services. The findings show how the services are perceived to be affected by macro-, meso, and micro-level processes. The participants suggested that service delivery should be based on an integrated organizational approach. Political, organizational, administrative, financial, and communicative processes are addressed and discussed in light of Osborne's theory of public service logic. The managers argue that a broad, contextual frame and infrastructure, enhancing managers' latitude of action regarding employees and facilitating collaborative service flexibility, would provide more sustainable, competent services.

Embedding Cognition: Judgment and Choice in an Interdependent and Dynamic World

Society is facing pressing interrelated, multilevel, and systemic challenges. Human consumption patterns are driving biodiversity loss and climate change, with unevenly distributed impacts that exacerbate preexisting inequalities. Structural or systems-level solutions to these challenges depend on group- and individual-level change, and vice versa. Although cognitive psychology has advanced our understanding of individual and group-level decision-making, it rarely links these microlevel processes and behaviors to network- and systems-level structures, resulting in a fragmented theory of how individual and collective action can drive broader social change. For example, psychology has established that physical, social, and historical contexts shape perception, reasoning, and decision-making but has largely ignored the dynamic and interdependent relationship between behavior and contexts. In this review, we urge researchers to move beyond a focus on static contexts and individual and group-level cognition to incorporate deeper theorizing about the temporal dynamics and feedbacks between individuals and the broader contexts in which they are embedded. We review literature emphasizing the role of context in shaping psychological processes as well as emerging research that considers individuals as embedded in complex adaptive systems. Complex adaptive systems frameworks are well suited to study the dynamic and interdependent relationship among individuals and the broader systems and structures they inhabit. The integration of research in psychology with these perspectives may thus offer traction in identifying solution pathways to complex, multilevel challenges by pointing to theories and methods that integrate across levels of analysis and account for coupled nature-society systems.

Disentangling Social Class–based Inequality: How Social Position Affects Evaluations of Economic and Cultural Markers of Social Class

How do the economic and cultural components of social class separately contribute to social class–based inequality? I argue that one approach to disentangle the effects of economic and cultural markers is to consider how decision-makers’ own social positions influence their evaluations of others in micro-level processes. I posit that decision-makers’ social positions influence their understandings and evaluations of the economic and cultural components of social class, giving rise to bias and inequality. In a series of original survey experiments, I manipulate the economic and cultural markers of a fictitious college applicant on subjects with elite and nonelite university degrees. The results show that the markers of social class affect individuals with elite degrees and individuals without elite degrees differently. I find that it is the cultural markers of social class, not the economic markers, that affect the judgments of evaluators with elite degrees. Applicants’ perceived competence and status help to explain the positive effect of cultural markers on evaluators with elite degrees. These results show the importance of social position and micro-level evaluation processes to help explain social class–based inequality.