A role for public procurement in system innovation: the transformation of the Greater Manchester (UK) waste system

The transformation of socio-technical systems to more sustainable states is more policy induced than market driven. Reflecting this, the potential for governments to direct system transformation has been widely debated. However, this debate concentrates on supply side policies and under analyses the potential for public buyers to steer system innovation. This paper draws from ideas on system innovation, transition management and public procurement to explore how a major public buyer was able to do just this. The paper describes the transformation of the Greater Manchester (UK) waste system from a relatively simple landfill model to a highly complex, multi-technology solution of intensive recycling, composting and energy production. The paper draws three main conclusions: (1) it is possible to orchestrate system innovation through public procurement in certain circumstances; (2) this involves developing the required interdependencies between technologies, institutions and practices; (3) system transformation can be orchestrated from within the incumbent regime.     

Lessons from the field: reflecting on a tourism research journey around the ‘celtic’ periphery

The challenge within the tourism academy to acknowledge the situated nature of knowledge within the research process is intensifying. Drawing on a multidisciplinary body of reflexive narratives and recent work in tourism that acknowledges the personal influences that construct knowledges, this paper embraces this challenge by offering an autobiographic narration of field work in Ireland, Scotland and Cornwall. Food tourism is employed as a conceptual vehicle to pursue a more culturally focused, critical tourism investigation, thereby contributing to work that extends tourism research beyond the sphere of management and business. Drawing on research involving in-depth interviews with (food) tourists and participant observation, it is suggested that tourism knowledge is constructed at the micro-level, directly shaped by seemingly insignificant or overlooked moments. The paper illustrates how personal aspects of field work (gender, age, ethnicity, personal insecurity, loneliness and physical demands), combined with overcoming more practical issues (weather and transport logistics), should inform the contextual foundations of any empirical research; it from these moments where tourism knowledge is truly cultivated. Underpinned by qualitative methodological literature within a framework of critical realism, it urges others to embark upon a similar reflexive journey in order to develop tourism research into a robust sphere of academic enquiry.     

A research agenda for improving national Ecological Footprint accounts

Nation-level Ecological Footprint accounts are currently produced for more than 150 nations, with multiple calculations available for some nations. The data sets that result from these national assessments typically serve as the basis for Footprint calculations at smaller scales, including those for regions, cities, businesses, and individuals. Global Footprint Network's National Footprint Accounts, supported and used by more than 70 major organizations worldwide, contain the most widely used national accounting methodology today. The National Footprint Accounts calculations are undergoing continuous improvement as better data becomes available and new methodologies are developed. In this paper, a community of active Ecological Footprint practitioners and users propose key research priorities for improving national Ecological Footprint accounting. For each of the proposed improvements, we briefly review relevant literature, summarize the current state of debate, and suggest approaches for further development. The research agenda will serve as a reference for a large scale, international research program devoted to furthering the development of national Ecological Footprint accounting methodology.     

None of our business: A lack of curricular internationalization on the Middle East at small to midsize colleges and universities in New England

Cross-cultural competencies are now specified as critical outcomes in U.S. higher education. Yet an analysis of accredited business programs in New England revealed that students frequently were not required to take courses about the Middle East. The study findings indicate that, for a region of economic and political importance to the United States, a gap exists between the curricular internationalization signaled by accreditation and how accreditors assess this internationalization.     

Antecedents and consequences of chronic impulsive buying: Can impulsive buying be understood as dysfunctional self‐regulation?

Researchers reach different conclusions about the functional or dysfunctional nature of impulsive buying behavior. While many note the use of impulsive buying as a form of mood regulation, there is disagreement about whether this is functional or dysfunctional and the extent to which it causes financial harm. This paper draws on data from a U.K. national survey sample (N = 109,472) to contribute to these debates. Study results suggest that impulsive buying is more common for those who have most need to regulate mood and who have the least effective emotion regulation strategies. This suggests that impulsive buying may be understood as a failure of self‐regulation in relation to long‐term goals and as a strategy for mood regulation. Contrary to some prior claims in the retail management and marketing research literature, the study shows higher levels of impulsive buying to be associated with more adverse financial outcomes (which are not confined to the most extreme manifestations of the trait). While ineffective emotion regulation is associated with higher propensity to buy impulsively, the findings also suggest that effective emotion regulation may to some extent mitigate the adverse consequences of the propensity to buy impulsively. The implications for ethical management, research, and policy are considered.     

Can green behaviors really be increased for all employees? Trade‐offs for “deep greens” in a goal‐oriented green human resource management intervention

This study explores the complex interaction between psychological and goal‐relevant boundary conditions that influence levels of individual engagement in a green human resource management (HRM) intervention designed to encourage employee green behavior (EGB). Data were collected from 1,112 employees in an automobile manufacturing plant. Consistent with goal‐setting theory, the level of feedback received predicts EGB. However, a three‐way interaction demonstrates how employees with high levels of autonomous motivation do not gain the expected benefits of high feedback and high goal commitment in the enactment of EGB. Instead, only those with weak autonomous motivation are affected by these goal‐related constructs. Findings suggest that both goal‐setting and self‐determination theories are relevant to green HRM interventions. Managers should consider that interventions that are effective for employees who do not have strong autonomous motivation towards the environment may not be effective for those who do.     

Consumer trust in the online retail context: Exploring the antecedents and consequences

This empirical paper explores the antecedents and consequences of trust in the online retail context and examines the moderating role of consumers' familiarity with a Web site in the relationship between Web site quality and trust. Data were collected with an online questionnaire. The research highlights the importance of the Web site interface in consumer online behavior by systematically examining how different quality features affect consumer trust. A multidimensional view of Web site quality with the following dimensions is developed: Web site usability, security and privacy assurance, and product information quality. Trust is shown to lead to positive consequences, such as the formation of positive attitudes and behavioral intentions toward the Web site. The study also identifies the moderating role of Web site familiarity in the relationships between aspects of Web site quality and trust. The implications for e‐retailers in terms of Web site design and marketing communications strategy are explored. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Varieties of National Metonymy in Media Accounts of International Mergers and Acquisitions

International mergers and acquisitions (M&As) often invoke national identification and national cultural differences. We argue that metonymy is a central linguistic resource through which national cultural identities and differences are reproduced in media accounts of international M&As. In this paper, we focus on two revealing cases: the acquisition of American IBM Personal Computer Division (PCD) by the Chinese company Lenovo and the acquisition of American Anheuser‐Busch (A‐B) by the Belgian–Brazilian company InBev. First, we identify the forms, functions, and frequencies of national metonymy in media accounts of these cases. We present a typology that classifies varieties of national metonymy in international M&As. Second, we demonstrate how these metonyms combine with metaphor to generate evocative imagery, engaging wit, and subversive irony. Our findings show that national metonymy contributes to the construction of emotive frames, stereotypes, ideological differences, and threats. Combinations of national metonymy with metaphor also provide powerful means to construct cultural differences. However, combinations of metonymy with wit and irony enable the play on meanings that overturns and resists national and cultural stereotypes. This is the first study to unpack the deployment of metonymy in accounts of international M&As. In doing so, it also opens up new avenues for research into international management and the analysis of tropes in management and organization.