Repeated Actions

Chinese community relationships are a social matter involving iterative intervention and an interpretive approach. The diverse nature of bricolage seems appropriate for the nature of the research. The activities and outcomes at one stage influence the others. A social system is an episteme, demanding that participants express their viewpoints at the beginning in a structured manner. An action-based framework is deemed suitable for this constructivist and pragmatic research project.

Initially, some actions call for stakeholders to collaborate and contribute to the

detection of problems and proposals for changes to avert confrontation. The learning organisation was a new paradigm for my factory’s members, and may have conflicted with existing Chinese community relationships among the ten founding families that could have extended to their external personal networks. Nonetheless, a shared

corporate vision was formed in the initial brainstorming session to expand the company significantly and rapidly. The mediating effect of Chinese community relationships on the implementation of learning organisation practices directed at achieving commercial performance can be exploited through team trials, and repeated action, a method variant of action research, was chosen to tackle this challenge. Fundamentally, the measurement of the mediation was gauged by how well business was improved and to what extent there was awareness of foresight capability. The characteristics of

repeated actions are the identification, promotion and evaluation of business risks and business opportunities when applying planned actions.

Repeated action is one key component of this research methodology. Parsons and Brown (2002, pp. 15-25) find a close relationship between reflexivity and the repeated action process. The following is a notable quote in undertaking action research (a.k.a. repeated actions):

Action research is a form of investigation designed for use by teachers to attempt to solve problems and improve professional practices in their own classrooms. It involves systematic observations and data collection which can be then used by the practitioner-

researcher in reflection, decision-making and the development of more effective classroom strategies. (Parsons and Brown, 2002, pp. 15-25)

There are four schools of thought on action research (Rapoport, 1970, p. 500). The first is Tavistock’s experience convergence; the second the operational research thinking of multidisciplinary works in the fields of engineering and psycho-biological studies; the third is the group dynamics stream from Kurt Lewin (Adelman, 1993, pp. 10- 12) on power, group and identity; and the final is applied anthropology. Nonetheless, Stringer

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(2007, chaps. 1 & 2) describes a common framework for all types of action research undertaken:

a) An area or operational focus carrying short-term and cumulative effects is selected

b) Existing data are collected across multiple sources; data are acquired regularly; collective data ownership is advocated; and all data collection are monitored heavily

c) Data are organised as per counting frequency, occurring instances, types of events, and number of artefacts; tabulated and charting displays are performed; all data are categorised

d) Data are analysed and interpreted collectively in a professional practice; deciding the points of attention; and determining the actions area(s) to be deemed a priority

e) Data are reconciled with the professional literature to steer the study in the correct research direction, with appropriate mitigating actions

f) Action is taken through data analysis, professional literature review and reaction g) Rrepeat.

There are many cyclic processes (Susman and Evered, 1978, p. 583) that investigate all matters in focus, dissecting and planning action, taking corrections, evaluating and noting the lessons learnt (Figure 3-1).

Figure 3-1: Action research cycle

(adapted from Susman and Evered, 1978, p. 583)

Diagnosing and define problems Plan a course of actions to solve problems Selection a course of actions to take Evaluating influence and results of selected actions Solicit specific learining through general findings

Baskerville and Myers (2004, p 330) develop criteria from the above action research cycles:

• Postulate 1: The first focus is on the utility of future systems from the perspective of participants

• Postulate 2: Action research generates knowledge for practice alternation • Postulate 3: Action research’s key items are first making corrections, then

evaluating immediate outputs

• Postulate 4: All research tasks are executed in a collaborative mode by researchers in the target environment

• Postulate 5: Action researchers make changes to plans when a new reality or conditions arise, such that the end goal of a new system is met

• Postulate 6: Researchers intervene in the situational setting.

The above six postulates become characteristics in the course of designing and implementing an action research project (Hult and Lennung, 1980, p. 243). The first characteristic is to aim for a better perspective on social scenarios and the community effect, with a complex and multivariate nature in terms of the social setting. The second characteristic is a concurrent approach to practical problem-solving and widening the knowledge domain. This facilitates the development of interpretive assumptions on scientific observation to enable the action researcher to intervene in the problem setting. The third characteristic is a collaborative performance for enhancing competencies in specific domains, which in turn determines the running of action research in reverse. The fourth is a thorough understanding of changes in social systems, while the fifth is continual feedback of data in the cyclical flow of action research tasks; the final characteristic is a mutually acceptable ethical framework. All action research should be conducted ethically regarding the human subjects.

This study is applied research originating in the commercial objectives of the Kunshan factory. The exceptional group performance of my fellow factory members indicates the huge effectiveness of Chinese community relationships on corporate exercises such as learning organisation programmes. Tangible results are expected from this study. This dissertation is applied research aiming to dissect complex consumer market issues at the start, to facilitate all company members to understand and to contribute their resources and ideas for development. Flood (2010, pp. 278-279) elaborates that SSM provides a systematic and swift workflow in action-oriented research.

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