Using personal narratives to explore multiple identities in organisational contexts

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore and incorporate personal narratives as a new methodological tool into the qualitative research of complex organisational issues such as identity. Particularly, this study provides a fresh methodological perspective on organisational identity exploration by using personal narratives to examine multiple identities that occur in dynamic organisational contexts. Design/methodology/approach In order to examine multiple identities, personal narratives found in the 43 semi-structured in-depth interviews collected were analysed. These narratives were examined following a textual and performative analysis. Findings The paper furthers methodological discussions in organisations in three ways. First, it responds to the need for a methodological approach that allows multiple identity exploration in organisations while it presents personal narratives as a valuable methodological perspective within organisational research. Second, it extends the methodological use of personal narratives for the in-depth qualitative study of complex organisational issues such as identity. Finally, the study stretches the boundaries of mainstream organisational research by illustrating that personal narratives can be used as a methodological approach to explore organisational identities. Originality/value This research integrates personal narratives as a methodological tool into the qualitative research of dynamic organisational issues. Employing personal narratives has allowed the exploration of multiple identities that take place in organisations in a manner not previously achieved in organisational studies. The study, therefore, challenges previous organisational research and expands the boundaries of organisational identity studies, offering a new qualitative methodological account for identity exploration in organisations

Effective performance management of inter-organisational collaborations through the construction of multiple identities

Although inter-organisational collaborations can offer better services, their performance management is complex and can often fail. Through the exploration of multiple (collaborative and non-collaborative) identities formed by partners, the paper offers guidelines for a more effective performance management of inter-organisational collaborations. More specifically, drawing upon a longitudinal qualitative study of a Greek inter-organisational collaboration, the findings of the research illustrate that both collaborative and non-collaborative identities can lead to better collaboration performance. Secondly, the study suggests that it is better to maintain the tension between stability and change within the collaborative process than resolve it. Finally, it offers four collaborative patterns for a more effective performance management of inter-organisational collaborations

The role of Intellectual Capital Reporting (ICR) in organisational transformation: A discursive practice perspective

Intellectual Capital Reporting (ICR) has garnered increasing attention as a new accounting technology that can engender significant organisational changes. However, when ICR was first recognised as a management fashion, the intended change it heralded in stable environments was criticised for having limited impact on the state of practice. Conceiving ICR through a lens predicated on the notion of discursive practice, we argue that ICR can enable substantive change in emergent conditions. We empirically demonstrate this process by following the implementation of ICR in one organisation through interviews, documents and observations over 30 months. The qualitative analysis of the data corpus shows how situated change, subtle but no less significant, can take place in the name of intellectual capital as actors appropriate ICR into their everyday work practices while improvising variations to accommodate different logics of action. The paper opens up a new avenue to examine the specific roles of ICR in relation to the types of change enacted. It thus demonstrates when and how ICR may transcend a mere management fashion and the intended change it sets in motion through altering organisational actors’ ways of thinking and doing within the confines of their organisation

Why should we collaborate? Exploring partners’ interactions in the psychosocial spaces of an inter-organisational collaboration

The study explores the interplay between collaborative and independent action in inter-organisational collaborations (IOCs). Towards this aim, the research suggests the use of psychosocial spaces as an innovative perspective that allows exploring how collaborative and non-collaborative actions unfold, as partners (re)identify themselves in relation to the changing needs of the collaboration. Following a qualitative longitudinal study, the paper contributes the concept of psychosocial space as a distinctive approach to examine IOCs. In this way, the study offers an alternative way to perceive IOCs as interactive spaces characterised and transformed by the collaborative and independent activity embedded within them. It also proposes that collaborative and independent actions emerge in IOCs through identity development processes. Finally, the research suggests that identity interactions in IOCs are not a burden in need to be resolved for the achievement of a common collaborative identity

Between planned and emergent collaboration: boundary activation and identity development in the psychosocial space of a Greek educational partnership

This thesis aims to expand our understanding of inter-organisational collaborations by exploring how the process of collaboration emerges over time and how collaboration partners (re)form their identities in the developing collaboration space. For the exploration of these aims, a practice-based study of inter-organisational collaborations is followed. The study analyses the KEDDY Aitoloakarnanias collaboration in Greece. In order to examine how the KEDDY collaboration unfolds, a longitudinal ethnographic research was conducted, collecting 43 in-depth interviews, 48 documents, observations of 13 partners’ meetings and numerous field notes. The data was analysed qualitatively using thematic and narrative analysis. The results show how, as they engaged in everyday working practices, organisational members demarcated the boundaries of the collaboration by producing two types of psychosocial spaces. The ‘spaces of regulation’ provided a stable meaning framework where the partners found continuity, while the ‘learning spaces’ offered them opportunities for renewal and change. These working spaces helped partners engage with the collaborative process in a flexible way. However, they required the activation of different types of boundaries and the establishment of different types of identities through identification loops. In this way partners were able to make sense of the constant changes in the collaboration space and organise their actions accordingly. Therefore, although some of the KEDDY collaboration features were designed a priori and provided continuity through regulatory spaces, this research illustrates how the day to day collaboration unfolds as partners also explore new practices. This indicates that it is not possible to predict the outcome of the collaboration process. Notwithstanding the limitations due to the small-scale nature of this study, the results have useful implications for the understanding of the development and transformations of inter-organisational collaborations over time. This research contributes to the body of research in the area in that it strengthens the view of inter-organisational collaboration as a process and questions in which way it is currently understood in the context of contemporary inter-organisational collaboration studies

Properties and microstructure of lightweight aggregate produced from lignite coal fly ash and recycled glass

The effect of glass addition on the processing, physical properties and microstructure of lightweight aggregate made from lignite coal fly ash from the Megalopolis power station in Greece has been investigated. Fly ash/glass mixes have been rapidly sintered at temperatures between 1040 and 1120 °C in a rotary furnace, and the density, water absorption and pellet strength determined. Sintering 60:40 fly ash:waste glass mixes at 1120 °C produced lightweight aggregate with a mean density of 1.35 g/cm3, water absorption of ∼16% and crushing strength of 7.3 MPa. Major crystalline phases in sintered materials were quartz (SiO2), albite (NaAlSi3O8), moissanite (SiC), hematite (Fe2O3), wollastonite (CaSiO3) and diopside (CaMg(Si2O6)). The work indicates that Megalopolis fly ash combined with waste glass can be used to manufacture lightweight aggregate with properties comparable to commercially available products. Fly ash and glass are potential resources that are currently waste materials in Greece. The processing involving pelletising and sintering in a rotary kiln is similar to that required for other commercially available lightweight aggregates manufactured from shales, clays and slate, and therefore processing costs are expected to be similar. However, avoiding the costs and environmental impacts associated with importing lightweight aggregate or using pumice makes the production of FA/glass lightweight aggregate a viable option

Latitudinal clines of allelic frequencies in Mediterranean populations of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann)

International audienc

A midsummer night’s dream - the music of the fairies

Composition for a play by William Shakespeare arranged and performed by Bernd Lafren

A tiny fly up in the sky

Three short pieces for violoncell

On-line dynamic monitoring of the SHARON process for sustainable nitrogen removal from wastewater

The goal of this work is the development of a suitable monitoring module, which is to be the first module of an integrated fault detection and control system for the SHARON process. To model the process properly, different PCA models lire tested. As a first step, PCA is used in an iterative manner to exclude data not considered to represent normal operational conditions and process behaviour from the original data set. To improve the performance of the identified model, it is decided to account for dynamics in the SHARON process by means of auto-regressive exogenous (ARX) Structuring of data before the identification. A fruitful replacement of missing values for this purpose is done by means of a static PCA model. It is shown that the different criteria used in model selection lead to the same DPCA model. In this paper all steps of the monitoring module design are explained and the performance of different models is analyzed