This chapter reviews directly observable data about K-12 urban teachers pertinent to the intrapsychic and psychosocial factors influencing their propensities to effectively learn across cultural differences between themselves and their students.

This chapter introduces action science as a novel approach to reconciling the knowing–doing gap presented in the Introduction. It reviews primary goals of this discipline as established in its seminal literature, as well as central tenets and terms in this discipline that are foundational to the analyses featured throughout the book. It also presents evidence that action science is a suitable approach to reconciling this knowing–doing gap, because its central tenets and terms speak to consistent and recurring themes in the extant educational literature. I explain how the ladder-of-inference framework from this literature is used to investigate K-12 urban teachers’ inferential thinking about cultural differences in the literature review featured across the next six chapters.

The author sets out for his first sting with COBRA. A long night of driving across London in pursuit of a predator ends up becoming a goose chase. But it gives him a good feel of what hunting entails.

Robert Chia and Andreas Rasche elaborate on the challenges of capturing the actual doing of strategy, which requires researchers to adopt a new worldview. They argue that the traditional ways of studying strategy work have led to an explanatory rupture between research accounts of strategy practice and the practice itself, which is intimately linked to the adoption of a set of epistemological premises that they term the building worldview. This view is characterized by two basic assumptions: (1) individuals are treated as discretely bounded entities; and (2) there is a clear split between the mental and physical realm; cognition and mental representation of the world necessarily precede any meaningful action. Accordingly, strategic action is explained through recourse to the intention of actors. They contrast this with what they refer to as dwelling world-view, which allows getting close to the actual doing of strategy because it does away with the assumption that identities and personal characteristics pre-exist social practice. Within this view, vocial practices are given primacy over individual agency and intention. Thus, strategic actions are explained not on the basis of individual intentions but as the product of particular, historically situated practices. Chia and Rasche discuss the epistemological consequences of these two worldviews showing how research findings depend on the chosen worldview.

The chapter articulates the transition from consistent brand image projection to engaging consumer landmarks through advocacy and identity affiliation, spotlighting the integral role of brand equity. In exploring the different interpretations of brand symbols across varied consumer groups, it acknowledges the challenges brands face in maintaining relevance and authenticity in an increasingly complex digital landscape. This underscores the necessity for brands to evolve as landmarks within the cultural landscape, guiding consumer engagement and fostering community and belonging, while avoiding the pitfalls of perceived intrusiveness.

This chapter first considers the evolution of the concept of the ‘cultural landscape’, expanding from its traditional connection with physical geography and heritage to a broader humanities-based discourse. It examines the interactions among landscapes, societies, and their collective memories, illustrating how these connections transcend geographical boundaries and historical epochs. The chapter underscores the shift towards a landscape culturalism that acknowledges the symbiosis between digital and physical landscapes, which influences cultural and individual identities. In presenting the cultural landscape as a dynamic space where organisations, societies, and consumers’ perceptions vary based on temporal and cultural contexts, it proposes a framework for understanding how brands interact within this landscape, influencing consumer behaviour and the construction of cultural identity both in physical and digital spaces, including digital cities and suburbs.

Chapter One reviews the history of foreign direct investment in less developed world regions and less developed countries and considers the empirical evidence about its effects on economic development. It critically evaluates main theoretical and conceptual perspectives on the effects of foreign direct investment in less developed countries. I argue two main points. First, the empirical evidence points strongly towards very uneven and limited positive long-term development effects of foreign direct investment in less developed countries. Second, mainstream and heterodox approaches to foreign direct investment came to contrasting conclusions about its potential long-term development effects in less developed countries.

The official whistleblowing channels are the first stop for most employees who speak out about wrongdoing. The channels often work. But sometimes, when a whistleblowing disclosure highlights serious and system-level wrongdoing, official channels can prove useless for preventing it. Worse, these channels can be actively used against a whistleblower who has been targeted for retaliation. The case of a whistleblower at a large electricity company shows how a manager speaking up on behalf of his staff can end up as a public whistleblower targeted for attack. Uniquely, this chapter also takes the perspective of the senior leaders in the organization who are doing the targeting. Large and complex organizations by their very nature give rise to anxiety, defensiveness and a need to scapegoat someone when things go wrong. When official channels fail, public whistleblowers need to look elsewhere to defend themselves and disclose wrongdoing.

Whistleblower protection laws are growing in strength and number across the globe. Whistleblowing workers enjoy stronger legal rights than ever before. But there are dangers. Laws can be undermined by powerful employers with deep pockets intent on exploiting loopholes to suppress public whistleblowing. Lawfare is one such tactic. Whistleblowers can find themselves exposed, and in extreme cases, prosecuted for speaking up. The high-profile story of Theranos’s Erika Cheung illustrates this chapter. As a twenty-three-year-old graduate, Erika blew the whistle on the most famous white-collar crime of recent years. After whistleblowing, she was aggressively pursued by her former employer’s legal counsel: a nationally renowned firm. Along with other whistleblowers, Erika’s testimony would prove pivotal in convicting senior executives. This chapter introduces the new world of whistleblower reprisal, including lawfare tactics ranging from NDAs to SLAPPs and over-reaching trade secrets laws. It points to the vulnerability faced by individual whistleblowers whose rights to protection ‘on paper’ offer scant help in practice. It shows how good lawyers are important, but in the end, they are often not enough.

“Writing Is a System” debunks the popular view that writing is an art, best learned by reading selections of good writing and practicing composing. Instead, writing is a system that involves understanding what factors make sentences seem easy to read and paragraphs well organized. This chapter also examines the relevance of readability scores in assessing writing.

In the introductory chapter, we position organizational control as fundamental to all organizations and one of management's essential functions. We stress the high relevance of organizational control for organizations today as modern ways of organizing and recent technological innovations have created new forms of control that need to be understood and managed. We outline the structure of the book and what to expect from this book and in this book and provide a roadmap for researchers and practitioners.

The Market Studies discipline represents an effort to understand and unscramble the entangled knot of practices, agents, devices and infrastructures that constitute markets. Over the past two decades it has become an interdisciplinary field, with scholars from sociology, marketing, management, organization studies, economics, anthropology, geography and design – an epistemic community (Knorr Cetina 1999) studying the emergence, transformation and innovation of markets (Araujo, Finch and Kjellberg 2010; Kjellberg and Helgesson 2006, 2007). The Market Studies field understands markets as socio-material, technical, political and economic forms of organizing collectives of distributed, heterogeneous sets of expertise – not only of exchange but also of society (Çalışkan and Callon 2009; Callon 1998).

This chapter explains and discusses the definition of public sector innovation. Public sector innovation includes two concepts or terms: (1) public sector and (2) innovation. The first concept, “the public sector,” refers to the general government organizations owned and funded by the government and may include or exclude state-owned enterprises. The second concept, “innovation,” refers to novel ideas or practices implemented organizations. Thus, novelty and implementation are two key terms defining innovation. Therefore, public sector innovation refers to innovative activities in the public sector, and this chapter provides information about it. In addition, this chapter discusses how and in what ways innovation differs from public management reforms, organizational change, invention, creativity, entrepreneurship, and improvement.

This chapter provides an introduction to what the book is about, the rationale of the book, and why public sector innovation matters, the target audience, and the organization of the book. This book is one of the pioneer books providing an overview, analysis, frameworks, and practical implications to public sector innovation scholarship. It defines public sector innovation as novel practices that public organizations or employees implement. Contrary to some claims that public organizations and public sector employees are not innovative, this book provides evidence from the globe that public organizations and public sector employees are innovative. This chapter also describes the target audience: academics, policymakers, practitioners, and anyone interested in the topic. Finally, this chapter provides brief information about how the rest of the chapters are organized.

The first and introductory chapter explains the necessity of this book, in other words, why it should be read. Several questions arise to illustrate this: If climate emergency is the grand challenge, why is so difficult to address it? Is it technically feasible? Economically? Trying to address it, we frame the current climate emergency as an extreme case of the well-known phenomenon of ‘the tragedy of the commons’. As a potential solution, we introduce a new disruptive business model and environmental strategy called ‘regenerative’, characterised by two main elements: (1) cutting-edge climate science solutions (capturing and utilising atmospheric carbon dioxide capable of producing net zero and even net negative emissions or positive environmental externalities); and (2) firm purpose redefinition under a new ecological, ethical and moral paradigm. Finally, a brief description of the book’s contents is presented.

Home to 60 per cent of the world’s population, Asia is the locus for significant global challenges such as the future of work, gender inequality, inequitable access to health care, and climate change. For these entrenched socio-economic challenges, the time is ripe for philanthropist and philanthropic capital to taking a leading role in addressing and resolving these issues. Connecting like-minded individuals and building bridges to collaboration is one of the core functions of ecosystem builders like the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN). Since its founding in 2011, AVPN has grown into Asia’s largest social investment network, with over 600 members active across 33 markets. It has incubated several successful partnerships, but the journey has not always been smooth sailing. As the network has grown and evolved, so has its value proposition and role in the community. This chapter shares some of the lessons AVPN has learned in its journey to become an inclusive, responsive, and resilient ecosystem builder for philanthropy in Asia. It calls on philanthropists to build more intentional partnerships with ecosystem builders to facilitate more long-term, sustained change on the ground. The chapter points out that sector intermediaries should seek out opportunities to support philanthropists in building the community – the best way to resolve systemic development issues – rather than work alone.

Existing research on the rise of precarious forms of employment has paid little attention to gender and diversity challenges. Yet precarious work has damaging effects for vulnerable demographics, with women, ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities more considerably affected. This volume unpacks this research and offers insights into the role of organisations in fostering inclusive change.

This introductory chapter makes a case for the value of considering the role and purpose of nonprofits in society. It defines “theory” in accessible terms and describes the scope of nonprofit-sector theory. It also previews the subsequent chapters.

The ability to organize is our most valuable social technology. Organizing affects an enterprise’s efficiency, effectiveness, and ability to adapt. Modern organizations operate in increasingly complex, dynamic environments, which puts a premium on adaptation. Compared to traditional organizations, modern organizations are flatter and more open to their environment. Their processes are more generative and interactive – actors themselves generate and coordinate solutions rather than follow hierarchically devised plans and directives. Modern organizations search outside their boundaries for resources wherever they may exist. They coproduce products and services with suppliers, customers, and partners. They collaborate, both internally and externally, to learn and become more capable. In this book, leading voices in the field of organization design articulate and exemplify how a combination of agile processes, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms powers adaptive, sustainable, and healthy organizations.