The ‘Idea Cloud’:
Contemporary Business Issues
The intention of the module is to provide students with theoretical and empirical inspiration for studying contemporary business issues. The issues that they can choose reflect different areas of expertise and study programmes.
This document contains a series of suggestions for the selection of a business issue. The list of contemporary business issues, which are clustered based on overarching themes – Strategy and Operations Management, Organisation Studies, Marketing, Human Resource Management, Economics, Finance and Accounting – should be seen as an ‘idea cloud’. These issues are not individual topics for the students’ business projects, but rather topical areas, which provide opportunities and inspiration for the specification of individual business projects, potential empirical approaches and introductory readings. Put differently, the suggestions outlined below require further refinement. Each may provide opportunities for the specification of various research questions and approaches to collect and analyse data. Moreover, these suggestions are not exhaustive. Students may consider further issues that they are interested in.
Each student will be allocated a supervisor to provide support, assistance and guidance throughout the process of defining a research question and a conceptual framework, summarizing and evaluating the existing literature, collecting and analysing data, and reporting and discussing the findings of the business project. However, it is up to the students to select a contemporary business issue, specify a precise research question and outline the empirical approach to examine the research question.
A variety of empirical approaches are possible. They will be presented in the lectures throughout the first term of the final study year. It is generally easier to get access to secondary data sources and/or documents. However, whenever relevant and appropriate, the students are encouraged to collect primary data. If they are using primary data, students must complete an ethics form and secure the agreement of the supervisor to accompany the proposal and provide guidance. For more details on this point, please see the guidelines specified in the Business Project Module Handbook.
Before making a final choice of a business issue, students should consider the following points:
Please take your time in reading the document, particularly these introductory points. Think carefully about your choice: Do not choose an issue straight away; do some initial
research and carefully consider all the options. If you have an issue in mind, it will most probably fit within one of the following areas and you can discuss with your supervisor at the first meeting whether your own idea is viable, i.e. whether there is sufficient literature and data for your analysis.
Although the suggested business issues differ, the marking criteria are identical. There is always enough literature available on a topic to complete your dissertation: if you cannot find it you need to vary your search processes.
Contemporary Business Issues in Strategy and Operations Management
Sourcing relationships: Make, buy or ally
Suggested empirical approach:
content analysis of published annual reports, corporate websites, industry reports provided by associations and the business press to identify factors affecting the use of different modes for governing sourcing relationships and value chains (recommendation: industry-specific analysis and comparison of two or three companies in a selected industry)
Introductory reading:
Krzeminska, A., Hoetker, G. and Mellewigt, T. (2013) Reconceptualizing plural sourcing. Strategic Management Journal. 34 (13), pp. 1614-1627.
Acquisitions of local businesses as strategies of multinational enterprises for
entering foreign markets
Suggested empirical approach:
single-case studies, using selected cases from different industries and countries (secondary data) Introductory reading:
Haleblian, J., Devers, C.E., McNamara, G., Carpenter, M.A. and Davison, R.B. (2009) Taking stock of what we know about mergers and acquisitions: A review and research agenda. Journal of Management. 35 (3), pp. 469-502.
Comparing the internationalization strategies of developed and emerging
market multinational enterprises: Communalities and differences
Suggested empirical approach:
comparative case studies: matched pairs of DMNEs and EMNEs from the same industry (secondary data)
Introductory reading:
Ramamurti, R. (2012) What is really different about emerging market multinationals? Global Strategy Journal. 2, pp. 41-47.
Business model innovation: Value creation and capture in the age of
digitization
Suggested empirical approach:
secondary data analysis in different industries (such as publishing or financial services) and the public sector (such as transportation or museums)
Introductory reading:
Vendrell-Herrero, F., Bustinza, O.F., Parry, G. and Georgantzis, N. (2017) Servitization, digitization and supply chain interdependency. Industrial Marketing Management. 60, pp. 69-81.
Family social capital and immigrant entrepreneurship
Suggested empirical approach:
interviews with immigrants from different countries who have started a new venture in the UK Introductory reading:
Bagwell, S. (2008) Transnational family networks and ethnic minority business development: The case of Vietnamese nail-shops in the UK. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research. 14 (6), pp. 377-394.
Forms of refugee entrepreneurship: Experiences from different countries
Suggested empirical approach:
either secondary data analysis provided by dedicated governmental and non-governmental institutions in different countries or interviews with refugee entrepreneurs in the UK
Introductory reading:
Fong, R., Busch, N.B., Armour, M., Heffron, L.C. and Chanmugam, A. (2007) Pathways to self-sufficiency: Successful entrepreneurship for refugees. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work. 16 (1-2), pp. 127-159.
Failure in immigrant entrepreneurship
Suggested empirical approach:
either interviews with immigrant entrepreneurs in the UK who have failed or thematic analysis of secondary data (failure communication) provided by http://autopsy.io/
Aliaga-Isla, R. and Rialp, A. (2013) Systematic review of immigrant entrepreneurship literature: Previous findings and ways forward. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development. 25(9-10), pp. 819-844.
Growth in immigrant entrepreneurship
Suggested empirical approach:
interviews with immigrant entrepreneurs in the UK Introductory reading:
Basu, A. (2011) From 'break out' to 'breakthrough': Successful market strategies of immigrant entrepreneurs in the UK. International Journal of Entrepreneurship. 15, pp. 1-23.
Contemporary Business Issues in Organisation Studies
Work engagement as a predictor of job and organizational performance
Suggested empirical approach:
preferably single-case studies of organizations in different industries and different countries; if possible, multi-case studies involving cross-country comparisons
Introductory reading:
Bakker, A.B. (2017) Strategic and proactive approaches to work engagement. Organizational Dynamics. 46, pp. 67-75.
Remote working: Practices, benefits and pitfalls
Suggested empirical approach:
either single-case studies of organizations selected by students or interviews with employees from different organizations and industries
Introductory reading:
Wilkinson, J. and Jarvis, C. (2011) New working practices: Identity, agency and the emotional experience of remote working. In Kelliher, C. and Richardson, J., eds., (2011) New Ways of Organizing Work: Developments, Perspectives and Experiences. London: Routledge, pp. 78-93. Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/16714
The gig economy: “dependent contracting” and (dis-)identification with work
Suggested empirical approach:
interviews with workers and/or union representatives, secondary data analysis of newspaper articles or position papers from trade unions
Introductory reading:
Costas, J. and Fleming, P. (2009) Beyond dis-identification – towards a discursive approach to self-alienation in contemporary organizations. Human Relations. 62 (3), pp. 353-378.
Leading a diverse workforce
Suggested empirical approach:
students concentrate on a selected dimension of diversity, such as age, gender or ethnic background, and either focus on secondary data or use interviews to examine best practices in selected organisations and/or industries
Introductory reading:
Kirton, G. and Greene, A.M. (2010) The Dynamics of Managing Diversity: A Critical Approach. 3rd
ed. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Contemporary Business Issues in Marketing
Value co-creation in the professional services industry
Suggested empirical approach:
either secondary data analysis in selected industries, such as the financial services industry, or interviews with consumers on their attitudes towards value co-creation
Introductory reading:
Hilton, T. and Hughes, T. (2013) Co-production and co-creation using self-service technology: The application of service dominant logic. Journal of Marketing Management. 29 (7-8), pp. 861-881.
Consumers’s perceptions and acceptance of self-service technology in
different industries
interviews with consumers in different industries, such as retailing, financial services, transportation or hospitality
Introductory reading:
Lee, H.-J. and Yang, K. (2013) Interpersonal service quality, self-service technology (SST) service quality, and retail patronage. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. 20, pp. 51-57.
The impact of terrorism on tourism and events
Suggested empirical approach:
longitudinal secondary data analysis of the tourism industry and festivals in selected countries Introductory reading:
Liu, A. and Pratt, S. (2017) Tourism’s vulnerability and resilience to terrorism. Tourism Management. 60, pp. 404-417.
Corporate communication strategies and crisis management
Suggested empirical approach:
single-case studies on selected companies and issues (such as Volkswagen, Fukushima, Enron), longitudinal secondary data analysis
Introductory reading:
Coombs, W.T. (2015) The value of communication during a crisis: Insights from strategic communication research. Business Horizons. 58(2), pp. 141-148.
Communicating entrepreneurial failure
Suggested empirical approach:
content analysis of failure communication, e.g. provided by http://autopsy.io/ Introductory reading:
Coombs, W.T. (2015) The value of communication during a crisis: Insights from strategic communication research. Business Horizons. 58(2), pp. 141-148.
Contemporary Business Issues in Human Resource Management
Leading remote workers: Leadership styles, benefits and pitfalls
Suggested empirical approach:
single-case studies of organizations selected by students or interviews with employees from different organizations and industries
Introductory reading:
Wilkinson, J. and Jarvis, C. (2011) New working practices: Identity, agency and the emotional experience of remote working. In Kelliher, C. and Richardson, J., eds. (2011) New Ways of Organizing Work: Developments, Perspectives and Experiences. London: Routledge, pp. 78-93. Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/16714
Models of apprenticeship and vocational training across countries:
Approaches, benefits and pitfalls
Suggested empirical approach:
secondary data analysis to identify and compare approaches across countries Introductory reading:
Bosch, G. and Charest, J. (2008) Vocational training and the labour market in liberal and coordinated economies. Industrial Relations Journal. 39(5), pp. 428-447.
Managing an ageing workforce: Evidence from different countries
Suggested empirical approach:
either content analysis of secondary data from selected companies or diversity initiatives, or interviews with HR managers, trade union representatives and/or employees
Introductory reading:
Kirton, G. and Greene, A.M. (2010) The Dynamics of Managing Diversity: A Critical Approach. 3rd
ed. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Business women in emerging economies: Career paths, promoting factors and
obstacles
either interviews with women in leading positions in companies and public institutions in emerging economies or analysis of secondary data, e.g. media coverage on business women in selected emerging economies
Introductory reading:
Rhodes, D.L. (2016) Women and Leadership. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Contemporary Business Issues in Economics
Labour market integration of refugees: Approaches in different countries
Suggested empirical approach:
secondary country-specific data, such as policy papers or documents provided by dedicated governmental and administrative bodies
Introductory reading:
Lundborg, P. (2013) Refugees’ employment integration in Sweden: Cultural distance and labor market performance. Review of International Economics. 21, pp. 219-232.
Microfinance and women entrepreneurship
Suggested empirical approach:
content analysis of secondary data included in dedicated databases, e.g. provided by MIX Market, an online database to which microfinancing institutions voluntarily contribute data
(www.mixmarket.org), or using secondary data published by selected microfinancing institutions Introductory reading:
Khavul, S. (2010) Microfinance: Creating opportunities for the poor? Academy of Management Perspectives. 24(3), pp. 58-72.
Promoting regional economic innovation and SME success: The impact of
regional clusters
Suggested empirical approach:
case studies of selected regional clusters drawing on diverse types of data (documents, policy papers, articles from the business press, websites, interviews)
Introductory reading:
Engel, J.S. (2014) Global Clusters of Innovation. Entrepreneurial Engines of Economic Growth around the World. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Contemporary Business Issues in Accounting and Finance
International differences in financial reporting: Evidence from selected
countries
Suggested empirical approach:
either secondary data analysis of published annual reports from either matched pairs of companies from different countries or single-case studies from companies located in countries that are not included in Nobes & Stadler (2015)
Introductory reading:
Nobes, C.W. and Stadler, C. (2015) The qualitative characteristics of financial information, and managers’ accounting decisions: Evidence from IFRS policy changes. Accounting and Business Research. 45(5), pp. 572-601.
Corporate social disclosures: Approaches chosen by companies in different
countries
Suggested empirical approach:
secondary data analysis of published annual reports from either matched pairs of companies located in the UK and another country or single-case studies from companies located in various countries
Introductory reading:
Reporting financial and non-financial performance: Financial, social and
environmental disclosures
Suggested empirical approach:
content analysis of published annual reports either focusing on a selected industry (cross-sectional) or tracing the evolution of reporting practices and standards in a selected company (longitudinal)
Introductory reading:
de Villiers, C., Rinaldi, L. and Unerman, J. (2014) Integrated Reporting: Insights, gaps and an agenda for future research. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal. 27 (7), pp. 1042-1067.
Venture capital and start-up performance
Suggested empirical approach:
either longitudinal content analysis of the annual reports of selected funded firms that have acquired venture capital or analysis of secondary data provided by venture capital associations Introductory readings:
Meuleman, M., Amess, K., Wright, M. and Scholes, L. (2009) Agency, strategic entrepreneurship, and the performance of private equity-backed buyouts. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. 33, pp. 213-239.
Rosenbusch, N., Brinckmann, J. and Müller, V. (2013) Does acquiring venture capital pay off for the funded firms? A meta-analysis on the relationship between venture capital investment and funded firm financial performance. Journal of Business Venturing. 28 (3), pp. 335-353.
Crowdfunding and new venture success
Suggested empirical approach:
analysis of data provided by internet-based crowdfunding platforms Introductory reading:
