New directions for service research: refreshing the process of theorizing to increase contribution

Purpose – For service research to develop as an applied social science there is the need to refresh the process of theorizing so it focuses not only on increasing new academic knowledge but also on knowledge that is managerially relevant. Guidelines are provided to achieve this.Design/methodology/approach – A theorizing process that integrates general theoretic perspectives and contextual research to develop midrange theory is developed. The process is based on the philosophical foundations of pragmatism and abductive reasoning, which has their origins in the 1950s when the management sciences were being established.Findings –A recent research stream that develops midrange theory about customer and actor engagement is used to illustrate the theorizing process.Practical Implications – Practicing managers, customers and other stakeholders in a service system use theory, so there is a need to focus on how theory is used in specific service contexts and how this research leads to academic knowledge that is managerially relevant. Thus, as applied social science, service research needs to explicitly focus on bridging the theory-praxis gap with midrange theory byincorporating a general theoretic perspective and contextual research.Originality/value - The contribution comes from providing a broader framework to guide the theorizing process that integrates general theoretic perspectives and applied research to develop midrange theory. While general theories operate at the most abstract level of conceptualization midrange theories are context-specific, and applied theory (theories-in-use) embedded in empirical researc

Reinventing learning: a design-research odyssey

Design research is a broad, practice-based approach to investigating problems of education. This approach can catalyze the development of learning theory by fostering opportunities for transformational change in scholars’ interpretation of instructional interactions. Surveying a succession of design-research projects, I explain how challenges in understanding students’ behaviors promoted my own recapitulation of a historical evolution in educators’ conceptualizations of learning—Romantic, Progressivist, and Synthetic (Schön, Intuitive thinking? A metaphor underlying some ideas of educational reform (working paper 8). Division for Study and Research in Education, MIT, Cambridge, 1981)—and beyond to a proposed Systemic view. In reflection, I consider methodological adaptations to design-research practice that may enhance its contributions in accord with its objectives

Advancing purchasing as a design science: Publication guidelines to shift towards more relevant purchasing research

Stange, R., Schiele, H., & Henseler, J. (2022). Advancing purchasing as a design science: Publication guidelines to shift towards more relevant purchasing research. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 28(1), 1-12. [100750]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pursup.2022.100750Due to rapidly changing business environments, purchasing and supply management (PSM) organisations are constantly confronted with new problems impacting organisational performance. PSM research can address these problems through design science research. Design science is also regarded as the science of the artificial. Design science research is a methodology that aims to systematically generate knowledge for the design, synthesis, testing, and evaluation of human-made artefacts (e.g., tools, interventions, policies) that solve practical problems. PSM artefacts such as the purchasing portfolio matrix invented by Kraljic (1983) represent a valuable opportunity to solve problems in the PSM discipline. However, our artificial-intelligence (AI)-based analysis of the discipline's flagship journal, the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management (JPSM), indicates that design-oriented publications in PSM are underrepresented, accounting for less than 4% of the total publications. We argue that existing PSM research should be complemented with more design-oriented research, and address the following research question: How can PSM scholars publish more design-oriented research? Our objectives are to (1) provide arguments for advancing PSM as a design science, (2) nurture a better understanding of design science research as a methodology, and (3) propose publication guidelines that enable researchers to present design-oriented research in a management journal.publishersversionpublishe

Conceptualizing the distinctiveness of Team Coaching

Purpose: Team coaching (TC) is a popular new addition to the team learning and development toolkit. However, the conceptualization of TC and the distinction between TC, team training, team development and team building interventions remains unclear. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach: The authors address this significant gap by abductively exploring how TC is conceptualised in practice (n=410). The authors survey practitioners engaged in delivering TC to ask how they would define TC and distinguish it from other team interventions. Findings: A thematic analysis of the data reveals eight themes, which can be used to define TC and illustrate areas of overlap and distinctiveness with other team interventions. Research limitations/implications: The absence of a clearly defined construct is hindering the development of a rigorous theory of TC. The contribution of the paper is, therefore, a clear and comprehensive definition of TC, which can be used by researchers and practitioners alike when working within the domain of TC. Originality/value: The paper provides the first systematic exploration of a definition of TC in relation to alternative team interventions. By utilising an abductive approach in the research, the authors are able to capitalise on practitioner experience in this practice-led field

Concerning the Epistemology of Design : The Role of the Eco-Cognitive Model of Abduction in Pragmatism

Altres ajuts: the PRIN 2017 Research 20173YP4N3-MIUR, Ministry of University and Research, Rome, ItalyDesign has usually been linked to art and applied in scenarios related to everyday life. Even when design has, on occasion, made its way into the world of academia, it has always been closely linked to art and scenarios related everyday life. At last, however, the idea of design has reached the field of epistemology: an area within the very heart of philosophy that has always focused, in theory, on the foundations of knowledge. Consequently, design is being studied from different approaches interested in the foundation of knowledge, theoretical and practical. This is one of the reasons why abduction and pragmatism have been considered relevant from a design perspective. This paper first shows the main features of abduction and pragmatism, describes their evolution and considers their mutual implications. Second, the epistemology of design is analysed considering its most relevant characteristics. Third, the connection between abduction and, on the one hand, pragmatism and, on the other, design epistemology is addressed. Finally, the role of abductive inference in grounding a real epistemology for design theory from the naturalised cognitive perspective of abduction is outlined. The central proposition is that this approach is essential as a methodological innovation, as it allows us to analyse both the inquiry process and the design process as interdependent when dealing with practical problems of a social and cultural nature. This approach allows us to analyse how human actions determine changes in the theoretical framework from which we make our inquiry. In short, the world is an open-ended project that humans design through our daily inquiry

Complexity, design and culture: convergences for digital experiences

The design of digital experiences and sociotechnical solutions in the contemporary society is characterized by increasing complexity. More and more variables are present and unpredictable effects are observed. The complexity of systems calls for increased awareness and problem-solving abilities. In this survey, design in general, and design of the user experience in particular, is positioned in the scope of complexity. Moreover, the design reasoning and methods are framed by culturally determined factors and cognitive styles. This survey aims to converge complexity and complex problem solving, design of the user experience, and cultural variations, reviewing bodies of work to inspire and map interdependencies that shape future challenges in systems and experience design.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Grounded Theory in Information Systems Research – from Themes in IS Discourse to Possible Developments

The grounded theory approach (GT) has been applied in qualitative research in information systems for a long time. Besides many papers that report results from such applications, there exist also many papers that discuss research-methodological issues concerning GT. This paper investigates the literature on GT-methodological issues in IS. The presentation is structured in six themes of the IS/GT discourse. These are: 1) GT variants, 2) GT and research paradigms, 3) GT and guidance, 4) usefulness of GT in IS studies, 5) the influence and use of pre-understandings in the GT research process, 6) the character of a grounded theory or other GT research outcomes. Conclusions are drawn from this review and based on these conclusions two suggestions are given for further development of a grounded theory approach in IS research. These suggestions are: 1) an enhanced action perspective with adapted conceptualizations for the IS research context to be used as support for analysis of data, 2) a clarification of a balanced interaction between inductive data analysis and use of extant theories in theory formation. These suggestions are grounded in pragmatist foundations that are apparent in original and evolved Straussian GT

Direct-Marketing Strategy Conceptualization for Small Farmers in Iowa: Decision-Making Activities and Their Parallels to the Design Process

abstract: This study explores the processes of designing strategies. The context of this research is scoped to the direct-marketing activities of small farm operators in eastern Iowa. The research intent is to explore and articulate trends in decision-making processes that assist small farm operators in eastern Iowa with direct marketing farm-to-table products, to explore and articulate how the design process creates differentiated value, and to explore and articulate the relationship between the design process and the way that small farm operators in eastern Iowa conceptualize their direct-marketing strategies. The research design takes a post-positivist approach and uses a grounded theory methodology. The study does not have a starting hypothesis but instead starts with the research intent described previously. Convergent mixed methods and a flexible plan are used for data collection including semi-structured interviews and surveys with key concepts operationalized into Likert scales. The participants are selected from eastern Iowa farmers’ markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) directories. For the qualitative data analysis, a grounded theory method is used to code interview response data, categorize the codes into related groups, and let the themes and sub-themes emerge from the data. For the quantitative data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics are calculated on the aggregate data set. The study finds that small farm operators are making strategic decisions about marketing mix variables such as product quality and relationship building, there are statistically significant correlations between design concepts and direct-marketing strategies, and that farmers designed their strategies by using the design process.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Design 201