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Reclaiming work design in the age of automation: A call to human-centric strategyPurpose: This paper revisits work design theory in light of rapid advancements in workplace automation, arguing that traditional models are no longer sufficient for addressing the complexities introduced by digital automation technologies (DAT). It aims to reposition work design as a central strategic concern for organisations navigating technological change. Design/methodology/approach: The paper adopts a narrative review, drawing from contemporary academic literature and recent empirical studies, to offer reflective commentary grounded in current research. Findings: Despite increasing attention to automation’s impact on job displacement, there remains a limited focus on how work design can respond to negative outcomes and promote employee engagement, innovation, and retention. Originality/value: This paper offers a timely call to action for HR leaders and work design researchers. It urges a shift away from purely technical implementations of automation toward more human-centred, strategically designed work environments. The piece contributes original value by framing work design as both a challenge and an opportunity in the digital economy.
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Machiavelli, marketing and management: RevisitedThis second fascinating and cutting-edge text provides insight into the meaning and interpretation of Machiavelli and his works for management, marketing and political thought and highlights their particular relevance to the manager and policymaker today. By bringing together contributions from authors, both academic and practitioner, this book addresses a number of common themes relating to the influences and arguments of perhaps the first political scientist and advocate of sound management and marketing principles. The volume covers a wide range of topics including modern management and leadership, public affairs, technology, marketing, populist and fascist governments, and strategic corporate philanthropy. Machiavelli, Marketing and Management: Revisited will be of great interest to all practitioners, students and scholars of management, marketing, political science and public affairs.
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CrowdfundingCrowdfunding is the approach fundraisers take to raise funding for a project, venture, or personal needs, from a crowd of people, or known as investors, backers, or supporters based on characteristics of different crowdfunding models, essentially through the Internet. Crowdfunding is considered as an alternative finance option for different purposes of businesses (e.g., new venture creation, business growth, and exit), individuals (e.g., life events and challenging circumstances), local communities (e.g., saving a local pub), and public sector. This entry will have a brief look at the history and trend of the different crowdfunding models, as well as their relationship with entrepreneurs and the public sector.
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The Palgrave encyclopedia of interest groups, lobbying and public affairsThe growing need for a concise and comprehensive overview of the world of interest groups, lobbying, and public affairs called for a compendium of existing research, key theories, concepts, and case studies. This project is the first transnational encyclopedia to offer such an interdisciplinary and wide overview of these topics, including perspectives on public relations, crisis management, communication studies, as well as political science, political marketing, and policy studies. It is an interdisciplinary work, which involved an extraordinary pool of contributors made up of leading scholars and practitioners from all around the globe; it is a live and evolving project focused on drawing together grounded international knowledge for our diverse and developing world. The 200+ entries of the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Interest Groups, Lobbying and Public Affairs (to be found as a live reference work online here, and in two print volumes in 2022) address these research avenues, tackling a growing demand for a comprehensive international reference work regarding key global sectors and policymaking structures, looking beyond the traditional markets of Europe and North America to incorporate practice and research from Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Latin America. This encyclopedia acts as a synthesis of existing research, and aims to aid academics, students, and practitioners navigate their relevant fields around the globe.
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The Sage handbook of political marketingThe Sage Handbook of Political Marketing is a comprehensive resource that introduces the theory and practice of political marketing in a global, yet simultaneously localized, world. The practice of political marketing has evolved significantly during the 20th and 21st centuries, adapting to the rise of mass media, marketing communication, advertising, and the web. Traditionally dominated by US, European, and Australasian scholars, the field has up-to-now emphasized the Americanisation and professionalisation of campaigning styles. Since the start of the new millennium, however, political marketing has transformed into a data-driven, specialized profession. With increasing digitalisation and the advent of AI, political marketing involves personally targeted, evidence-based messaging with real-time engagement and sentiment analysis. This approach is not limited to democratic regimes but is also widely adopted by authoritarian states worldwide. The handbook addresses the global perspectives on political marketing, covering a myriad of contexts, cultures, and regimes. It encompasses insights into political marketing in regions seldom discussed in the literature, including Zimbabwe, Japan, India, Hong Kong, and Ukraine. These chapters enrich the debate on political marketing’s impact on democracies and its use in non-democratic societies. Organized into four parts, the handbook covers strategy, propaganda, digital evolution, ideology, and contemporary practices in political marketing. It explores topics such as the marketing of ideology, the impact of the internet and social media, the use of AI in political marketing, and the role of fake news and disinformation in campaigns. The handbook addresses the use of political marketing techniques in crisis management, political branding, the measurement of political marketing effects, and political marketing use outside of electoral campaigns. The Sage Handbook of Political Marketing is an essential resource for scholars, practitioners, students, and politicos in general, seeking to understand the complexities of political marketing. It provides a comprehensive and nuanced exploration of the field, equipping readers to engage with the theoretical and practical aspects of political marketing in a rapidly changing world. Part 1: Strategy in Political Marketing: Orthodox and Occidental Perspectives Part 2: Political Marketing, Propaganda, and Digital Evolution: Global South and Eastern European Perspectives Part 3: Ideology in Political Marketing: Advocacy, Movements, Lobbying, and Public Diplomacy Part 4: Contemporary Political Marketing: Cybercampaigning, Fake News and Social Media
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Soft power, art of the media and international political marketing: A cross-cultural perspectiveIn 1990, the eminent scholar, former diplomat and policymaker Joseph S. Nye, a figure of profound influence, coined the concept of soft power. He defined it as “getting others to want the outcomes you want”. Nye argued that this is achieved through the persuasion and attraction of one’s ideas or the ability to set the political agenda to shape the preferences of others. This concept, at the heart and cutting edge of political marketing, international policy making, and modern public affairs, is a testament to Nye's intellectual prowess. This chapter asserts that the monitoring and knowledge of the soft power of nation-states is a critical component of modern political marketing.
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Exploring the transformational learning potential of the ‘outside field’ coach mentor: An ethnographic study with four duoethnographiesDespite the awareness that sports coaches actively seek advice and support from those they consider to be mentors (including, those mentors who may be positioned as non-sport, or outside the field of sport), there remains a paucity of empirical research, about ‘what happens’ or ‘what goes on’ in the mentoring space, particularly from a learning impact perspective. Indeed, ‘what is spoken about’, ‘what is said and by whom’ and ‘what may be learnt’ by mentoring participants in the mentoring space remains largely unknown. There may be reasons for this, including the fact that coach mentoring episodes are figuratively hidden, often private affairs. By gaining privileged mentor access to three high-performance Futsal coaches’ this study aims to explore the role of an outside field coach mentor, during a period of time when each Futsal coach is preparing national Futsal teams for international competition. Data about what happens in the coach mentoring space is collected through a form of collaborative reflexive dialogue (between the coach mentor and each Futsal coach), leading to the formation of four separate duoethnographies. In order to analyse the dialogue contained in each duoethnography (DE), the work of Jack Mezirow’s Transformation Learning (TL) theory is adopted as a lens to further explore the transformative learning potential of the coach mentor. Participation in this study was entirely voluntary, based on the principle of the informed consent from three high-performance Futsal coaches. Through the writing and analysis of each DE, findings reveal the potential an outside field coach mentor may have in supporting the transformational learning of each Futsal coach and indeed his own. In this way, this current study contributes both to a wider understanding of the role of a coach mentor in the context of high-performance sports coaching and equally the value of DE as an approach for critical reflexive dialogue in sports coach mentoring.
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Earth observation data and AI integration: Unveiling the spatial impact of wildfire pollution in Los AngelesEarth observation data contains vast amounts of valuable information that enhance comprehension of environmental changes and support informed decision-making regarding our planet. The Copernicus Browser is a powerful online platform designed to facilitate the visualisation and analysis of these data. Meanwhile, the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming numerous fields. This case study presents a scenario demonstrating how AI can assist in the spatial analysis of imagery data related to wildfires in Los Angeles, obtained from the Copernicus Browser.
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Exploring the role of embodiment in the production and experience of wild atmospheres in natureEmbodied and emotional experiences are heightened in encounters with nature, especially in blue spaces. Thus, drawing on the works of Husserl and Merleau-Ponty, we analyse the role of the body in the production and experience of wild atmospheres through the practice of wild swimming in natural blue spaces. Using an interpretive approach involving interviews and ethnographic observations with forty-six wild swimmers, our analysis foregrounds embodiment and illuminates the central role of the body in the relational production and experience of atmospheres in nature. In so doing, we extend current understandings of embodiment by advancing a granular account of the emergence of ‘wild swimming atmospheres’ produced and experienced haptically and somatically through intimate and personal connections and entanglements between human bodies and natural surroundings. The paper concludes with suggestions for exploring embodied haptic and somatic experiences in other consumption contexts within natural settings.
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Why ignore expiry dates on cosmetics? A qualitative study of perceived risk and its implications for cosmetics producers and regulatorsConsumers often use cosmetics long after their expiry date, despite the health risk. This paper aims to understand why and to suggest policy changes that can promote safer practices in cosmetics use. This is the first study to investigate risk perception in relation to expired cosmetics. Thirty-three semi-structured interviews with both cosmetics users and employees of cosmetics companies were conducted in the UK and China. Perceived risk theory was found to be a useful analytical lens. Eight risk factors emerged from the data, including two not previously identified. Combinations of risk were also found to be valuable in explaining consumer attitudes to cosmetic expiry dates, which suggests that perceived risk factors interact with each other to create an emergent perception of risk, requiring an integrated understanding. While physical, performance and self-brand connection risk can promote adherence to an expiry date, other risk factors such as financial and social risk can override such concerns, leading to the expiry date being ignored. Implications for suppliers’ and regulators’ policies and risk-communication strategies are identified that may help reduce the risks being taken by cosmetics users.
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Women’s football subculture of misogyny: The escalation to online gender-based violenceGiven the global expansion of women's football and its significant social media presence, it is vital to investigate fan culture and perspectives. This article examines how fans react to the rising visibility of female athletes on TikTok. Our goal is to assist other scholars interested in examining complex platforms and how gender-based violence literature enables us to explore broader social concerns such as privacy and security. The present study answers a call by Dá-Lameiras and Rodrguez-Castro (2021) for empirical research into newer digital video social media channels and women’s football. We, therefore, post the following research questions: RQ 1 How do fans react to women’s football on TikTok in the framing of gender-based violence? RQ2 How can brands respond to gender-based violence on TikTok? We investigated these topics through a netnography (Kozinets 2020) in which researchers used immersive data operation to study women's football on TikTok. We studied (2) English Premier League football (EPL) clubs’ use of social media in the United Kingdom and situated it within the context of gender sports studies politics. More specifically, text and video were analysed, but primarily fan text comments/responses to videos were examined as this was the primary fan response mode. We kept a netnography team digital immersion journal over seven months containing screenshots, field notes in text and video. The study examined public posts on TikTok and gained University ethical approval (see also Fig 1). We used an inductive approach to examine all posts. Our findings provide fresh insights by identifying themes from social media responses to women's football and providing brand recommendations pertaining to gender- based violence. The study set out to investigate how the EPL represents and promotes female football players on social media and how professional women football players are perceived as “sporting topics” (Jones, 2008). We were particularly interested in how fans (re)construct women footballers’ identities and the fan-based mentality at play here, revealing what we perceive as vulnerabilities when these athletes are made available via social media. The study raises questions of how these clubs navigate the complexities and contradictions inherent in sports regarding how women are empowered individually while also being used as targets for harassment. It contributes to and expands on current studies on how football teams and their fans utilise social media to represent, promote, and advertise themselves and their sport, particularly emphasising the identities of female players featured in their content. We identify the escalation of gender- based violence on social media against women players. Academics interested in analysing complex platforms such as TikTok and the ways in which gender-based violence literature enables us to analyse broader social issues such as privacy and security will find our research useful.
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Learning to inhabit the liquid liminal world of work: An auto-ethnographic visual study of work-life boundary transitionsThis article explores a conceptually modified notion of liminality in order to make better sense of contemporary ‘flexible’ working life. Previous conceptualizations of liminality rely on the assumed existence of socially sustained boundaries and the possibility of boundary spanning. Under conditions of liquid modernity, however, boundaries or thresholds have been destabilized to the point of collapse. Nonetheless, individuals still feel the need to establish and maintain intersubjective boundaries to preserve their own sense of well-being. To understand the new predicament faced by employees, we reconceptualise liminality for liquid times – through the notion of liquid liminality – and, simultaneously, problematize dominant conceptions of work-life balance. The implications that liquid liminality carries for the notion of flexible knowledge work are discussed. Our auto-ethnographic visual study of an academic returning from maternity leave uses a socio-material lens to exemplify the struggles of the contemporary flexible knowledge worker. It also demonstrates how the constant transition between workplace and home life is freighted with anxiety and exhaustion. We also outline opportunities for establishing new learning habits that follow from our theoretical framing and empirical analysis.
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A story-in-the-making: An intertextual exploration of a multivoiced narrativeThe following study will explore the stories which are not told – that is, it will scrutinize the process of intertextual emergence of an ultimately open story: one which has neither discernible authorship nor agenda and which remains in-the-making rather than strives to achieve closure. The paper will discuss the process in which multifaceted and multidirectional organizational stories are created, in which plots and characters exchange and ‘ending’ is defied. This lack of closure is perceived here as a breeding ground for networked meanings, which, if allowed to remain interdependent and plural, eschew the danger of a new organizational story becoming universal carrier of inflexibly established contents. Since the unifying semantic organizational frameworks (e.g. ‘success story’) may be construed as impostors attempting to ascribe both authorship and agency to a nonagentical and non-authored ‘untold story’, this study proposes one way in which multidirectedness and plurality of the story may be preserved.
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Monologue and organization studiesIn this essay, we propose that recent work in management and organization studies is typically inclined to understand organization and organizing as dialogic in form. Dialogicity is characterized by dynamic interlocution on the part of active human sense-makers and, in our critical reading, evokes a romanticized social landscape that fails to reflect the more prosaic features of organizational life. To address what we see as certain limitations of the dialogic view, we introduce a complementary point of reference: that of monologic organization. This perspective provokes reflection on those situations in which meanings are predetermined at the outset and communication consists of the strictly controlled, routine reproduction of formal scripts. We draw on the works of Mikhail Bakhtin and Michel Serres to reclaim monologic as a pertinent view of organization and its processes. Finally, we provide micro-, meso- and macro-level examples to illustrate and discuss the heuristic potential of a monologic view.
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Introducing AIRSim: An innovative AI-driven feedback generation tool for supporting student learningThis paper introduces AIRSim (AI Responses Simulator), an innovative AI tool designed to support students in practicing their questionnaire analysis skills within the café and restaurant discipline. Utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), AIRSim generates hypothetical feedback data to facilitate student learning. Through a series of 16 experiments, we evaluated AIRSim’s capability in simulating participant responses to user-uploaded questionnaires. Our findings demonstrated a notable degree of diversity in the generated results, as indicated by the Entropy Index, across various perspectives and participant-question combinations. To the best of our knowledge, there exists a lack of relevant studies exploring this specific application of AI in the context of student learning within the café and restaurant discipline. By introducing the AIRSim tool, educators can efficiently enhance their students’ analytical abilities and responsiveness to customer needs. This practical contribution addresses the pressing need for effective training methods in the hospitality sector while also capitalizing on the transformative potential of Generative AI technologies, such as ChatGPT. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into AI-driven student learning and identifies areas for future research.
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When YouTubers Launch a Sports Drink: A Social Network Analysis Case Study of the Virality Related to Prime HydrationWhen entertainment influencers launch products like sports drinks, it often leads to significant online conversations that shape public perception and consumer behaviour. This case study examines such discussions surrounding Prime Hydration on X (formerly Twitter) from December 2022 using Social Network Analysis (SNA). A total of 1,562 tweets were retrieved from d posted by 1,536 Twitter users. The analysis identifies two main groups: isolated users sharing individual opinions, sometimes questioning the hype and central influencers KSI and Logan Paul, whose posts drove widespread engagement. The most active discussions during our time period were in the United Kingdom and North America, where the product was heavily promoted and readily available at retailers. Australia and Southeast Asia showed moderate interest, while Africa and South America had less activity, potentially reflecting varying levels of market penetration. Our research highlights how SNA can effectively map social media conversations, offering valuable insights into the influence of key users and global consumer reactions. The findings emphasize how influencer-driven marketing significantly impacts public dialogue and regional brand visibility, underscoring the importance of credibility and authenticity of social media influencers.
