Elaboration Of Theory Research Articles

The circularity of product-service systems: the role of macro-, meso- and micro-level contextual factors

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the relationships between macro-, meso- and micro-level contextual factors that enable or inhibit the contribution of product service systems (PSS) to circularity. It is informed by the natural resource-based view (NRBV) and the multi-level perspective as theoretical lenses.Design/methodology/approachA theory elaboration approach is used through three in-depth case studies of UK and German manufacturers. Case studies provide use- and result-oriented PSS for personal computers, power tools and wind turbines. Multiple sources of evidence, including 20 semi-structured interviews, company documents and quantitative data, are triangulated to improve the validity of the results.FindingsEmpirical evidence for relationships between macro-, meso- and micro-level contextual factors show significant barriers to the extending and cycling of resource loops, primarily through maintenance, repairs and refurbishment. A firm’s environmental awareness has a determining role in the contribution of PSS to circularity. The evidence from two use-oriented PSS reveals different circularity maturity levels.Originality/valueThis research makes three key contributions. Firstly, it elaborates on NRBV by showing that a firm’s environmental awareness determines product stewardship. The type of product stewardship practices depends on the enabling and inhibiting effects of macro- and meso-level factors. Secondly, it shows that use-oriented PSS have different circularity profiles and proposes three circularity maturity levels. Finally, it provides an empirically validated framework of macro-, meso- and micro-level enablers and barriers and how they interact to enable or inhibit circularity in PSS.

The mediating role of cooperative norms in the formation of buyer commitment in the buyer–seller relationship

PurposeDrawing on Foa and Foa’s elaboration of social exchange theory, the authors propose that buyers reciprocate perceived commitment on the part of the salesperson and supplier with commitment on their own parts because of strengthening of the relationship’s tacit governance mechanism – cooperative norms.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses data from 155 buyers doing business with a multinational supplier. The buyers were from firms generating less than $100,000 in billings. The salesforce of the supplier firm sponsoring the research is responsible for account management and communicating directly with buyers.FindingsBuyers, who feel that their suppliers are providing a symbolic, long-term, particularistic benefit (commitment), respond with their own strengthened commitment to the relationship; this mutualism is explained entirely by the mediating effect of the relationship’s cooperative norms. Where buyers perceive generally favorable treatment (satisfaction), without these three qualities, their own reciprocal commitment increases directly and cooperative norms play no part. The results also demonstrate the transition of buyer perceptions of the salesperson as they develop into beliefs about the selling firm as a whole.Practical implicationsDrawing on the “reciprocation-in-kind” principle, supplier firms seeking long-term, open-ended commitment from their customers should cultivate it via similarly long-term and open-ended commitments of their own. Attention must be given to the unwritten, often unstated “rules of the road” for business relationships, as these rules represent the mechanism through which investments in long-term, profitable partnerships bear fruit.Originality/valueThe conceptual model draws on and empirically tests Foa and Foa’s framework within social exchange theory to predict what form of buyer reciprocation will result, based on the characteristics of perceived seller-provided benefits. This study illustrates that the tacit governance structure of a B2B relationship – its cooperative norms – plays a critical role in the strength of a buyer’s commitment to its supplier.

The Intellectual Love of God in Spinoza

ABSTRACT One of the most famous and identifiable of Spinoza’s ideas is his amor Dei intellectualis (the intellectual love of God). It has been argued that this concept is somewhat alien to the main tenets of the Ethics, especially since it is reminiscent of more orthodox religious relations to God, and has a certain mystical (and so, nonrational) quality.In this paper, I will show that it is a consistent development of Spinoza’s interconnected and elaborate theories of knowledge and the affects. Spinoza discusses three kinds of love: passionate love, friendship and the intellectual love of God.The intellectual love of God is nothing but a necessary outcome of Spinoza’s rationalistic project as a whole. Moreover, by culminating his ethical theory with such a concept, Spinoza is placing himself in a rich tradition of thinkers who develop epistemological and ethical systems that put love (either as eros or philia) as the backbone of their philosophy. In order to illustrate the similarities between Spinoza’s philosophical use of love and that of his predecessors, I will address salient features of Plato’s and Aristotle’s thought, emphasizing the relationship between love and ethics, as well as the nature of the philosophical impulse.

Effectuation as an Advanced Theory- A Study of Alliance Between Academic Entrepreneurs & Large Firms

Efforts to promote Effectuation as an advanced theory have recently taken a new direction by deviating from the dichotomy of Effectuation and causation and embracing more inductive approaches that enable scholars to advance Effectuation itself theoretically. In line with the recent works, this research adopts a theory elaboration approach with the aim of advancing Effectuation as an independent theory. Through a field study of twenty-five alliances between technology-based academic entrepreneurs and large firms, this study reveals how academic entrepreneurs’ means-based attitudes and behaviors and its intertwined notion of goal ambiguity respectively facilitate and impede building opportunity trust and commitment-based trust between two parties; and how large firms’ adoption of affordable loss contributes to alliance control. By doing so, this research contributes to both scholarship of Effectuation and inter-organizational relationships through building inter-relationships between Effectuation and two dominant alliance governance mechanisms (i.e., trust and control).

Supporting thinking about thinking: examining the metacognition theory-practice gap in higher education

Metacognition is the knowledge and regulation of one’s cognition and has been associated with academic performance across all levels of education, including higher education (HE). Previously, a gap has been reported between extensive metacognition research and elaboration of theory versus minimal inclusion of metacognition in teaching practice in primary and secondary education. The present study investigated whether this theory-practice gap extends to HE. Furthermore, we took a novel approach to evaluating academics’ broad and implicit inclusion of metacognitive supportive practices (MSPs) in their teaching practice. A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to evaluate awareness of metacognition and inclusion of 16 MSPs in undergraduate teaching among 72 academics in scientific disciplines at a UK research-intensive university. We found that a minority of academics (27/72, 37.5%) were familiar with metacognition and, of those who were, they typically emphasised knowledge of cognition, rather than regulation of cognition. Nonetheless, all respondents incorporated at least two MSPs in their teaching, although typically in a limited fashion, emphasising knowledge and understanding of discipline content rather than cognitive regulation. Compared to academics without a teaching qualification, respondents holding or working towards a teaching qualification used significantly more MSPs, earlier in their career, and used significantly more MSPs aligned with regulation of cognition. This study demonstrates that the metacognition theory-practice gap extends to HE and highlights the scope for staff development programmes to better support students’ metacognitive development relevant for their studies and post-graduation careers.

The Multidimensional Model of the One-Minute Paper: Advancing theory through theoretical elaboration

The One Minute Paper (OMP) is a formative assessment technique which provides scaffolding for students to build knowledge. This study uses a theory elaboration approach to develop the Multidimensional Model of the One-Minute Paper. The model is conceptualised by connecting preliminary models with the empirical observations from a qualitative study. The findings are based on the results from student OMP responses, student focus groups and lecturer interviews.The study takes advantage of a natural experiment to provide a multidimensional view across five facets (student/teacher perspective; time; culture; teaching delivery method; and class size). Thematic analysis supported a re-conceptualisation of the model. Using economics as an exemplar, the research indicated that the OMP supports learning and teaching via the three core constructs (Connections; Functionings; and Environmental Context), which are all influenced by a number of identified and distinguishable sub-constructs.The identification of the importance of the Environmental Context was a novel finding, as were two of its distinguishable sub-constructs. First, cultural differences can impact the perceived effectiveness of the OMP and therefore they should be accounted for in the design and implementation phase. Second, there are potential additional benefits to the OMP when used in an online environment. These findings take on greater significance in a post-pandemic world where inevitably more teaching will be delivered virtually.

Conceptualizing Human Rights Remarks on the ‘Genus’ and Distinguishing Features of Human Rights

The paper examines the conceptual issues of human rights using the framework of the genus proximum – differentia specifica definitional technique. My aim is not to come up with a definition for human rights, but rather to identify their genus that can, as a starting point, serve the purposes of constructing a more elaborate theory. As an unsurprising, but not at all obvious suggestion, it is argued that the closest conceptual category to human rights is the category of rights, understood in a wide but still Hohfeldian sense of the word. Subsequently, the paper examines five potential ‘distinguishing features’ that can, either separately or in combination with each other, set apart human rights from other rights.

Coral reefs: Moving beyond Malthus

Environmental problems are often construed as having straightforward causes, such as human population growth or greed. Yet, the social sciences offer more elaborate theories that allow for a much more accurate and actionable understanding of these causes. A new study puts the explanatory power of some such theories to the test on coral reefs.

Influence of Mahayana-Vajrayana School on the Sacred Characteristics of Theravada Vihara in Indonesia

After Buddha parinibbana, difference of views between his disciples in interpreting Dhamma result in the creation of three main Buddhist schools: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. With slightly different philosophies, these schools also have their own unique architectural characteristics to represent sacredness. However, due to the absence of any architectural literature, wide interpretations of Buddhist teachings, and acculturation with local culture, sacred characteristics of Buddhist architecture became mixed and difficult to distinguish. This research aims to study the influence of Mahayana and Vajrayana schools on the sacred characteristics of Theravada Buddhist architecture in Indonesia. Elaboration of Buddhist architecture and sacredness theory are used to analyse case study in surrounding environment, figure, mass structure, spatial planning, and ornamentation scope to obtain comprehensive acculturation picture of Mahayana and Vajrayana philosophy on Theravada vihara in Indonesia. Based on the results of the analysis, it can be seen that the circular shape that was characteristic of the early Theravada school in the architectural form of the monastery began to be abandoned and the use of anthropomorphic Buddha and iconic symbols as ornamentation elements which were only known in the development of Mahayana and Vajrayana schools.

Stakeholder management in PED projects: challenges and management model

The importance of stakeholder analysis and stakeholder management is magnified as project complexity increases. Complex projects can be characterized by uncertainties arising from emerging technologies and the involvement of various types of stakeholders and their interests. Positive Energy District (PED) projects are an example of such undertaking, coupling novel energy solutions with distinct stakeholders and their diverse positions, claims, and requirements pertaining to the project. In this study, our objective is to provide a stakeholder management framework for future PED projects. The qualitative case study follows the theory elaboration methodology and aims to formulate a conceptual stakeholder management framework for PED projects. Thus, our contribution focuses on expanding the domain of project stakeholder management by characterizing and validating it in a new, time-relevant project context.

Machines augmenting entrepreneurs: Opportunities (and threats) at the Nexus of artificial intelligence and entrepreneurship

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to machines that are trained to perform tasks associated with human intelligence, interpret external data, learn from that external data, and use that learning to flexibly adapt to tasks to achieve specific outcomes. This paper briefly explains AI and looks into the future to highlight some of AI's broader and longer-term societal implications. We propose that AI can be combined with entrepreneurship to represent a super tool. Scholars can research the nexus of AI and entrepreneurship to explore the possibilities of this potential AI-entrepreneurship super tool and hopefully direct its use to productive processes and outcomes. We focus on specific entrepreneurship topics that benefit from AI's augmentation potential and acknowledge implications for entrepreneurship's dark side. We hope this paper stimulates future research at the AI-entrepreneurship nexus. Executive summaryArtificial intelligence (AI) refers to machines that are trained to perform tasks associated with human intelligence, interpret external data, learn from that external data, and use that learning to flexibly adapt to tasks to achieve specific outcomes. Machine learning is the most common form of AI and largely relies on supervised learning—when the machine (i.e., AI) is trained with labels applied by humans. Deep learning and adversarial learning involve training on unlabeled data, or when the machine (via its algorithms) clusters data to reveal underlying patterns.AI is simply a tool. Entrepreneurship is also simply a tool. How they are combined and used will determine their impact on humanity. While researchers have independently developed a greater understanding of entrepreneurship and AI, these two streams of research have primarily run in parallel. To indicate the scope of current and future AI, we provide examples of AI (at different levels of development) for four sectors—customer service, financial, healthcare, and tertiary education. Indeed, experts from industry research and consulting firms suggest many AI-related business opportunities for entrepreneurs to pursue.Further, we elaborate on several of these opportunities, including opportunities to (1) capitalize on the “feeling economy,” (2) redistribute occupational skills in the economy, (3) develop and use new governance mechanisms, (4) keep humans in the loop (i.e., humans as part of the decision making process), (5) expand the role of humans in developing AI systems, and (6) expand the purposes of AI as a tool. After discussing the range of business opportunities that experts suggest will prevail in the economy with AI, we discuss how entrepreneurs can use AI as a tool to help them increase their chances of entrepreneurial success. We focus on four up-and-coming areas for entrepreneurship research: a more interaction-based perspective of (potential) entrepreneurial opportunities, a more activities-based micro-foundation approach to entrepreneurial action, a more cognitively hot perspective of entrepreneurial decision making and action, and a more compassionate and prosocial role of entrepreneurial action. As we discuss each topic, we also suggest opportunities to design an AI system (i.e., entrepreneurs as potential AI designers) to help entrepreneurs (i.e., entrepreneurs as AI users).AI is an exciting development in the technology world. How it transforms markets and societies depends in large part on entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs can use AI to augment their decisions and actions in pursuing potential opportunities for productive gains. Thus, we discuss entrepreneurs' most critical tasks in developing and managing AI and explore some of the dark-side aspects of AI. Scholars also have a role to play in how entrepreneurs use AI, but this role requires the hard work of theory building, theory elaboration, theory testing, and empirical theorizing. We offer some AI topics that we hope future entrepreneurship research will explore. We hope this paper encourages scholars to consider research at the nexus of AI and entrepreneurship.

Additive manufacturing value chain adoption

PurposeAdopting additive manufacturing (AM) on a large-scale requires an adoption in company value chains. This may happen through product innovation and require interorganizational cooperation, but the value-adding potential of cooperation and application recognition is still poorly understood. This study aims to investigate the progress of AM adoption in innovation projects featuring AM application recognition and interorganizational cooperation in the value chain.Design/methodology/approachA multiple-case study was implemented in successful metallic AM adoption examples to increase the understanding of AM adoption in value chains. Primary data were collected through interviews and documents in three AM projects, and the data were analyzed qualitatively.FindingsAll three AM projects showed evidence of successful AM value chain adoption. Identifying the right application and the added value of AM within it were crucial starting points for finding new value chains. Interorganizational collaboration facilitated both value-based designs and experimentation with new supply chains. Thereby, the focal manufacturing company did not need to invest in AM machines. The key activities of the new value chain actors are mapped in the process of AM adoption.Research limitations/implicationsThe cases are set in a business-to-business context, which narrows the transferability of the results. As a theoretical contribution, this paper introduces the concept of AM value chain adoption. The value-adding potential of AM is identified, and the required value-adding activities in collaborative innovation are reported. As a practical implication, the study reveals how companies can learn of AM and adopt AM value chains without investing in AM machines. They can instead leverage relationships with other companies that have the AM knowledge and infrastructure.Originality/valueThis paper introduces AM value chain adoption as a novel, highly interactive phase in the industry-wide adoption of metallic AM. AM value chain adoption is characterized in multi-company collaboration settings, which complements the single-company view dominant in previous research. Theory elaboration is offered through merging technology adoption with external integration from the information processing view, emphasizing the necessity of interorganizational cooperation in AM value chain adoption. Companies can benefit each other during AM adoption, starting with identifying the value-creating opportunities and applications for AM.

Purchasing orchestration practices – Introducing a purchasing-innovation framework

This research investigates the purchasing role in enhancing an organization's innovation performance. Taking a purchasing perspective, this research introduces a new purchasing-innovation framework and specific purchasing orchestration (PO) practices related to the acquisition, integration, re-configuration, and commercialization of critical resources to enhance innovation performance. A theory elaboration methodology is applied to broaden the scope of resource orchestration theory (ROT) and introduce PO practices as an essential enabler of innovation. Qualitative interviews with managers from different industries enrich the theory elaboration process. This research contributes to theory by developing the concept of PO and enhancing the theoretical understanding of its meaning. Based on theory and empirical data, this research elucidates the PO practices of resource structuring, bundling, and leveraging support. The purchasing innovation framework explains how open-mindedness and technological uncertainty influence purchasing orchestration practices and innovation performance. Purchasing managers benefit from this research by learning to identify and address potential PO capability gaps and take a holistic perspective on resource management, looking both upstream and downstream in the supply chain.

Rent gap governance

While gentrification in some contexts has been analysed as a profit-driven process best explained by the rent gap, state governance, e.g. through social mixing, has elsewhere been seen as the main driver of this urban process. With the concept of rent gap governance, the aim of this article is to show that profit and governance can be mutually constitutive parts of gentrification in the neoliberal city. Even when gentrification is a political premise, the rent gap can remain important, but its formation and closure might be unconventional. Empirically, the article centres on Denmark’s 2018 ‘Ghetto Law’, a social-mix policy aiming to govern a racialized surplus population by reducing non-profit housing in stigmatized areas through privatization of housing and land and new-build. Building on recent elaborations of rent gap theory, I suggest three mechanisms for rent gap governance in the Danish case: increased potential rent, depressed ground rent, and subsidized and envisioned rent gaps. I ground this model with a case study of the sale of the non-profit housing complex Schackenborgvænge. I analyse rarely-available qualitative and quantitative data and consider the immediate social consequences of the sale. The result is a murky picture of localized rent gap governance.

Pilot study of peer modeling with psychological inoculation to promote coronavirus vaccination.

Promoting coronavirus vaccination is deterred by misinformation, ranging from elaborate conspiracy theories about sinister purposes to exaggeration of side effects, largely promulgated by social media. In this pilot study, we tested the effects of different messages on actions leading to vaccination. Two theory-based advertisements were produced for Facebook, which provided video testimonials from peer role models recommending vaccination and its benefits while providing psychological inoculation through the models’ acknowledging misinformation, rejecting it and receiving the vaccine. These ads were paid to appear on Facebook users’ feeds in rural counties in South Texas, along with a generic vaccine promotion ad from the CDC without peer models or psychological inoculation. Ad viewers could click a link to ‘find a vaccine near you’; these responses served as the outcome variable for assessing experimental effects. Ads featuring peer modeling with psychological inoculation yielded a significantly higher rate of positive responses than CDC ads (30.5 versus14.9/1000 people reached in English and 49.7 versus 31.5/1000 in Spanish; P < 0.001 for both English and Spanish rate comparisons). This provides useful pilot data supporting the hypothesis that theory-based communication, i.e. peer modeling with psychological inoculation, may be more effective than more traditional forms of advertising for promoting coronavirus vaccination.

Legacy information system replacement: Pursuing quality design of operational information systems

Legacy information systems (LIS) present unique design challenges by moving static processes across functional boundaries and into changing environments. Questions emerge for practice on how to capitalize on the diverse knowledge in the core team and which sources of external knowledge to tap. We develop a framework of practice and knowledge sources based on information elaboration theory (IET) that encourages highly interactive decision processes among diverse team members under conditions of complexity due to change. The results serve to advise practice and extend IET to consider the sourcing of knowledge and specific techniques for exploiting diverse knowledge sources.

The ritual stance does not apply to magic in general

Contrary to the author's proposed classification scheme, I argue that most magical practices are better viewed as "instrumental" rather than "ritualistic." Much ethnographic and historical evidence shows that magicians and ritual experts often have elaborate causal theories regarding how magic actions lead to the putative outcome, and the "physical/mechanical" versus "supernatural" distinction in causal mechanisms needs serious reconsideration.

Русское детективоведение первой половины XX в.

The article examines the works of Russian literary critics of the first half of the 20th century, such as K. Chukovsky, V. Bryusov, V. Shklovsky, E. Lann, N. Berkovsky, E. Vinaver, S. Eisenstein. The author considers Shklovsky’s article “The Novella of Mysteries,” notes its advantages and disadvantages (in particular, indicates the absence of definition of mystery, which is the central concept in the article, as well as Shklovsky’s mixing of the genres of detective story, Gothic novel, sensational novel, etc.). The author indicates advantages of Berkovsky’s note “About the Soviet detective fiction,” in which the example of the novel by A. Tolstoy “Hyperboloid of the engineer Garin” indicates what what is not typical for detective story. The author demonstrates how Eisenstein created a comprehensive and elaborate theory of the detective genre; in particular the understanding of the famous director of the genre specifics (almost complete impossibility of connection between detective genre and “serious” content) and his reference to the detective story as an example of the need for the artist to “always know the station to which you hold the way.” The article is the first detailed analysis of the works of Russian researchers of detective fiction.

The Yi-Jing Cosmic Model as a Framework for Comparative Philosophy

Based on the symbolism of the trigrams, the Yi-Jing cosmic model offers possibilities in a coordinate system with eight octants to discuss different philosophical developments in parallel. It forms a framework for further elaboration of theory and methodology of comparative philosophy. This paper is restricted to extracting, analyzing and comparing common features from the perspectives of the Yi-Jing model. Achieving harmony is the subject of a new paper under construction. The philosophical developments in the quadrants, Naturalism, Moralism, Rationalism and Humanism, are characterized by a fundamental difference between subject and object. This difference remains intact in the octants, but specified developments underline the subject and others the object. In Naturality man or woman does not consider him- or herself more valuable than other life forms, as in Daoism and ecocentrism. In Existentiality man or woman places his or her “ego” at the center and should give meaning from itself, as in existentialism. In Connectivity emphasis is on the human being, looking for liberation, as in Buddhism and parts of Hindu philosophy. In Normativity the subject focuses on the object, through norms and values, as in ancient China and Greek culture, and in modern technology assessment. In Rationality man or woman sees him or herself as more important. In Differentiality an anti-subject attitude arises, which led to phenomenology, hermeneutics, postmodernism and difference thinking. In Sociality, emphasis is on society and reality determines the idea. In Humanity emphasis is on the person, as in Confucianism, which strives for harmonious human relationships.

Scientific Evolution of Philosophical Concepts of the Origins of Universe and Life

In order to demonstrate the great importance of Philosophy in the elaboration of current scientific theories, a parallel was drawn between concepts of pre-Socratic Philosophy and current modern theories. Thus, throughout this essay, the convergences between some elaborations developed by philosophers and their reinterpretation from a scientific point of view, supported by the scientific method and the present technological apparatuses, were exposed. In this sense, having as its core the reflection about the atomic theory of Leucippus and Democritus, we investigate the way in which atomism dialogues with the modern Atomic Theory to the Quantum Theory, through concepts of Kosmos and Cosmology. In a second moment, origin of life theories were revisited from the pre-Socratic concepts of Psykhe. Finally, Philosophy and Science are brought together as possible and complementary tools for the restoration of the amplification of thought and investigative processes.