Making an effort for free – volunteers' roles in destination-based storytelling

Many destinations are dependent on volunteers. Storytelling is one of the areas to which volunteers are increasingly contributing; however, the role of volunteers has been offered only sporadic attention. The aim of this study is to provide insights into volunteer involvement by studying volunteers as destination stakeholders with focus on their roles, influence, and contribution. A cross-case analysis of three Nordic cases is undertaken. A theoretical framework is developed based on volunteer tourism, stakeholder theory, and marketing literature on storytelling. A three-phase model of the storytelling process is developed. Findings show substantial variation. Unsurprisingly, early inclusion of volunteers result in substantial influence on the storytelling concept, however, this does not guarantee volunteer involvement later on. Conversely, late inclusion of volunteers does not necessarily hinder engagement among volunteers in the execution of the stories. All cases demonstrate that developing a strong concept that can tie together the efforts of stakeholders across professional and volunteer divides is a major challenge. The results point at the importance of strategic goals coordinating storytelling activities, volunteer inclusion, and ‘use’ of volunteers' local knowledge and enthusiasm in all phases of the destination-based storytelling process planned along with strategic goals such as ‘selling place’ or ‘building community’.     

The logic of innovation in construction

The paper investigates the logic of innovation in construction by addressing four questions: What is actually being renewed in construction? How is it being done? Who is involved? and Why do or do not the companies innovate? The paper draws on a combination of an industrial network perspective and the exploration–exploitation dichotomy to analyze data from a study of innovation in the Norwegian and Swedish construction industries. The findings show that construction companies are increasingly working more systematically to turn project-level ideas into company-wide knowledge. This indicates an innovation logic that is oriented towards exploitation of new combinations through the internal network. The companies are also increasingly concerned with establishing closer connections to customers and users, which have traditionally been weak. This has led to an orientation towards exploitation through the external network, at least on the customer side. In turn, this may lead to more innovative behavior and renewal in the industry as a whole. However, it requires that not only the customer relationships, but also the relationships on the supply side must change. Companies in the construction industry should be conscious about their innovation logic, in terms of whether they base their innovation behavior on a biased orientation towards exploitation or exploration or towards the internal or external network. A balance is needed.     

Framing the constructive alignment of design within technology subjects in general education

Design is core element of general technology education internationally. While there is a degree of contention with regards to its treatment, there is general consensus that the inclusion of design in some form is important, if not characteristic, of the subject area. Acknowledging that design is important, there are many questions which need to be considered in order to guide policy and practice, such as whether a singular general design ability can be explicitly defined empirically beyond an implicit verbal definition, and whether it can be taught and assessed. In order to address these questions in a systematic fashion, a framework is needed in order to guide relevant investigations. Having such a framework would allow for theory to be generated, hypotheses to be tested, and assumptions to be challenged. In response to this apparent need, this article presents a theoretical discussion pertaining to the constructive alignment of learning to design, wherein theories of knowledge, variation theory, knowledge transfer, and assessment validity and reliability are reflected upon.

     

Science and proven experience: a Swedish variety of evidence-based medicine and a way to better risk analysis?

A key question for evidence-based medicine (EBM) is how best to model the way in which EBM should ‘[integrate] individual clinical expertise and the best external evidence’. We argue that the formulations and models available in the literature today are modest variations on a common theme and face very similar problems when it comes to risk analysis, which is here understood as a decision procedure comprising a factual assessment of risk, the risk assessment, and the decision what to do based on this assessment, the risk management. Both the early and updated models of evidence-based clinical decisions presented in the writings of Haynes, Devereaux and Guyatt assume that EBM consists of, among other things, evidence from clinical research together with information about patients’ values and clinical expertise. On this A-view, EBM describes all that goes on in a specific justifiable medical decision. There is, however, an alternative interpretation of EBM, the B-view, in which EBM describes just one component of the decision situation (a component usually based on evidence from clinical research) and in which, together with other types of evidence, EBM leads to a justifiable clincial decision but does not describe the decision itself. This B-view is inspired by a 100-years older version of EBM, a Swedish standard requiring medical decision-making, professional risk-taking and practice to be in accordance with ‘science and proven experience’ (VBE). In the paper, we outline how the Swedish concept leads to an improved understanding of the way in which scientific evidence and clinical experience can and cannot be integrated in light of EBM. How scientific evidence and clinical experience is integrated influences both the way we do risk assessment and risk management. In addition, the paper sketches the as yet unexplored historical background to VBE and EBM.     

Extending the diversity conversation: Fashion consumption experiences of underrepresented and underserved women

This research brings in the voice of underserved and underrepresented women of various racial or ethnic origins and social classes, who have differing buying powers, sexual orientations, body shapes, and physical appearances, into the conversation of fashion diversity. Through a qualitative inquiry with 38 semi-structured in-depth interviews, the researchers analyzed the consumption experiences of diverse women to expose what the fashion scene is lacking. The study's main contribution is the depiction of overlooked diversity categories in fashion, such as the non-White and non-Black women of color, women of average sizes, and women with characteristics that the fashion industry has long seen as flaws. For women's physical and psychological well-being, the authors of this study hope to lead fashion producers and researchers into a new era of diversity and minimize certain consumer groups' exclusion through discrimination, isolation, and segregation.     

Staffing effectiveness across countries: An institutional perspective

This study draws on institutional theory to investigate why and how staffing effectiveness varies across countries. Utilising data from multiple sources (Cranfield Network on Comparative Human Resource Management [CRANET], Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness [GLOBE], World Economic Forum [WEF], Transparency International, Tightness-Looseness Index), it covers 2,918 organisations in 11 countries. Extending earlier research on comparative staffing that focuses on cultural or regulatory differences separately, our findings show that companies in different countries implement staffing practices in line with their normative (i.e., cultural), regulatory, and cognitive institutions. A second key finding shows that institutionally embedded staffing practices are associated with organisational turnover, thus challenging dominant universalist perspectives on staffing effectiveness. Finally, we shed light on a central yet understudied boundary condition of contextual perspectives on staffing by identifying the strength of institutional pressures (i.e., societal tightness-looseness) as a moderator of the relationships between national institutions, staffing, and turnover.