Westminster Business School

This paper explores the value of using the derive and psychogeography as a means of teaching research methods to business students. It draws on the experience and reflections of undergraduate students who carried out a derive in a research methods course. It makes a novel contribution to qualitative research practices in business by applying a methodology established in literary circles and sociology to business. Using the derive illuminates the importance of several issues such as the dominance of the visual and the importance of location. The paper also considers whether certain people are more open to derives, whether first-year undergraduates are mature enough for such an activity, and whether undergraduates are able to deal with such an informal practice. It considers how early in their education and to what effect students should be exposed to fundamental issues of epistemology and the challenges to orthodoxy. The findings suggest that the setting of the project is consequenti...

This paper responds to the ECRM Call for Papers by discussing and assessing the value of a co-articulation of two research approaches, that of psychogeography and the use of fictional writing, particularly novels, as a basis for business and management research. It examines Daniel Defoe’s novel A Journal of the Plague Year as the prototypical psychogeographical text and a model of the derive. In doing so it explores the opportunities and problems of using fiction to understand complex current phenomena. This enables us to further the case for psychogeographical exploration or the derive as a research method which is well established as a literary genre and which contributes to new understandings of the limits of management and organization theory. We draw parallels between the London Great Plague of 1665 which exposed the contrasting mobility of the rich and poor when calamity strikes, the problems of balancing the private and public good, the challenge of providing employment when ...

An influential account of the use of fiction in management studies was published 20 years ago (Phillips, 1995). Since then the field has burgeoned with studies on particular writers (e.g. McCabe, 2014; De Cock, 2000), particular sites (e.g., McCabe, 2014), and particular phenomena (e.g., Patient, Lawrence and Maitlis, 2003) and particular forms (Holt and Zundel, 2014). With this paper we extend De Cock and Land’s (2005) inquiry into how organization and literature are co-articulating and interdependent concepts using Joyce’s Ulysses to advance the claim that “literary fiction can reveal important truths about organizational life without recourse to the representation of factual events” (Munro, and Huber, 2012:525). Specifically, we compare and contrast Joyce’s work with the myth and its inherent properties of ambiguity, identity and power. Myths are accepted as containing some truth but existing in many forms: one definitive version is not to be found. Joyce does not offer a finishe...

An influential account of the use of fiction in management studies was published 20 years ago (Phillips, 1995). Since then the field has burgeoned with studies on particular writers (e.g. McCabe, 2014; De Cock, 2000), particular sites (e.g., McCabe, 2014), and particular phenomena (e.g., Patient, Lawrence and Maitlis, 2003) and particular forms (Holt and Zundel, 2014). With this paper we extend De Cock and Land’s (2005) inquiry into how organization and literature are co-articulating and interdependent concepts using Joyce’s Ulysses to advance the claim that “literary fiction can reveal important truths about organizational life without recourse to the representation of factual events” (Munro, and Huber, 2012:525). Specifically, we compare and contrast Joyce’s work with the myth and its inherent properties of ambiguity, identity and power. Myths are accepted as containing some truth but existing in many forms: one definitive version is not to be found. Joyce does not offer a finishe...

This paper reflects on the accessing and sampling strategies used in a qualitative PhD study focused on hard to access communities. The hypothesis formulated is that, given the limited PhD research resources, reflectively combining traditional snowballing with e-snowballing sampling via Facebook is efficient, particularly when trying to reach hard to access populations. This paper contributes to knowledge by offering context bounded insights for PhD researchers on how to efficiently access and sample hard to reach informants through e snowballing via Facebook. It provides new evidence of the time it takes to recruit research participants using different sampling techniques. To test this hypothesis, an e snowballing sampling process via Facebook was designed to access and sample immigrant entrepreneurs into participating in face to face interviews. The e-snowballing sampling technique via Facebook was more time-efficient, critical in increasing the sample size, yielding a similar par...

This paper explores teaching business students research methods using a psychogeographical approach, specifically the technique of dérive. It responds to calls for new ways of teaching in higher education and addresses the dearth of literature on teaching undergraduate business students qualitative research methods. Psychogeography challenges the dominance of questionnaires and interviews, introduces students to data variety, problematizes notions of success and illuminates the importance of observation and location. Using two studies with undergraduate students, the authors emphasize place and setting, the perception of purpose, the choice of data, criteria of success and the value of guided reflection and self-reflection in students’ learning. Additionally the data reflect on the way students perceive research about management and the nature of management itself. The paper concludes that the deployment of psychogeography to teach business research methods although complex and frau...

Student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are an accepted method of investigating the impact of lecturers’ work with students. Although research generally shows that student evaluations are a positive development, conflicting research on the reliability and validity of the methods used leads to our overall research objective of discovering what practical use is made of the evaluation data by lecturers. Particular focus is placed on the lecturers’ attitude to the use of quantitative and qualitative questions and the reliability of the evaluations as an effective tool. Considerations include the halo effect, students’ ability to accurately assess course content, the influence of assessment grading, and fundamentally the fitness of this instrument for the purpose of acquiring useful, objective data. In a global context SETs may be used by institutions for recruitment or promotion purposes. However, in Europe they tend to be regarded as confidential documents seen only by individual course...

1 2 The increase of the cost of oil and declining oil reserves has 3 led to the search of alternative sources of renewable energy, 4 such as the use of orange wastes. 5 The aim of this work was the optimization of ethanol 6 production trough a biologic pretreatment (BP) and a 7 simultaneous enzymatic saccharification and fermentation 8 process (SSF) of orange wastes. The BP was made in liquid 9 cultures with T.harzianum, T.reesei, P.ostreatus, and 10 A.niger. The SSF was made with T.harzianum’s cellulase 11 and K.marxianus as a fermenting microorganism. We 12 determine the cellulase activity and found that T.harzianum 13 (42.23 U/ml) had the best results. Total reducing sugars and 14 the alcohol contents were analyzed with gas 15 chromatrography. The results show that the celluase 16 addition increase the total reducing sugars comparing to 17 biological pretreatment. We obtain 2-3% of ethanol 18 production. After the scale laboratory optimization we will 19 test these processes in 1...

A collection of papers reflecting the growing maturity and research quality of studies on Women in Computing. Contributing to a discipline that is generating increasing interest, it combines current thought on the subject with highly practical studies. This book is intended for any reader working in computing, or interested in gender and computing at an international level and is also a crucial source of research in Women's Studies.

Logistics in the UK is perceived as a sector where qualification levels could improve: the sector is viewed as underperforming in training and education. Representative professional and trade bodies within the sector actively address this challenge. The research derives from the work in a knowledge transfer partnership project between a representative trade body in the sector and the University of Westminster. A principle deliverable from the project has been development of a new Programme in Training and Education tailored to the needs of the sector. New facilitating structures to engage a range of stakeholders have additionally been established. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the knowledge exchange process within the project and to present an evaluation of the application of service quality theories in the development of the new service. The paper focuses on the knowledge exchange elements of the project in developing the programme as a new service for a me...

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This paper researched on the causes, current consequences and potential implication of the European debt crisis.
The crisis was found to be a result of factors including international trade imbalances, the effects from the global crisis
2007-2012 and the failure in bailout approaches to cure Europe from the global financial distress. This has caused panic
across the world due to the fact that negative financial situations in peripheral countries in Europe might further demolish the
global financial markets. Even though significant growth was presumed from the introduction of Euro, the financial crisis
resulted in sharp rise in bond yields, CDS, cross-correlation and spillover effects across bond markets of the Eurozone. Yield
curves of the GIIPS countries acted as a cluster; differentiating from stronger and more stable economic forces. In addition,
crisis resulted in significant dip of market confidence on Euro and depreciation of Euro against major currencies. Commodity
prices i.e. spot price of gold rose to almost 300% over the time crisis period, utilized by governments as a defense mechanism
against the economic downturns. Potential problems that might arise from this severe crisis and financial prospects of
European states as well as governments over the world are also assessed and discussed.

Job satisfaction is an important aspect for an organization’s success. A successful organization is the one
with satisfied workers. This research report tried to find out the main factors of job satisfaction and whether
they have any impact on the job satisfaction of the employee of private companies. Firstly the factors
responsible for job satisfaction were identified through a literature review of various articles related to job
satisfaction. A focus group discussion among employees and an exploratory research were also conducted.
Nine Factors were found. Then to analyze the effect of these nine factors, a quantitative research was done.
The employees were selected through convenience sampling. After conducting pretest the main survey was
done. The result indicated that four out of nine factors (Coordination and Leave Facility, Reward & Future
Opportunities, Vision of the Company, Work Process, and Health & Insurance Policy) have significant
influence on Job satisfaction. The study concluded that an effective organization will make sure that there is
a spirit of cooperation along with coordination among employees and sense of commitment towards
achieving the goals and satisfaction within the sphere of its influence.