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Grafting selected elements into a primary theory from another theoretical approach can sometimes enhance the theoretical framework to facilitate more refined data analysis. Because of the possible risks of theoretical fragmentation that may result from incorporating elements of different theories into a single framework, we opted for grafting selected elements of one theory into our primary theory, to carefully retain the logical coherence of the main theory. In this paper, we draw on a study of isiXhosa-speaking women traders in Cape Town’s Langa Township (hereafter referred as Langa) to argue that grafting elements of Sen’s capability approach (CA) into Giddens’s structuration theory (ST) enhanced our theoretical framework. This improved the quality of our analysis and enabled us to generate more nuanced findings. Our qualitative study with 25 African women traders investigated how these women exercised agency in responding to structural constraints and opportunities that affected their trading businesses. We used participant observation and in-depth interviews to collect data. Sen’s CA (grounded in social justice) expanded on Giddens’s notion of structures as constraining and enabling. For this aspect of our theoretical framework, CA informed by Sen’s research on women’s empowerment projects amplified the intersection of gender, class and race constraints that affected the women traders. Furthermore, CA’s emphasis on quality of life and well-being outcomes was useful in helping us assess the transformative capacity of the women traders’ agency. This dimension complemented Giddens’s ST and therefore our theoretical framework was enhanced by grafting in these elements from Sen’s CA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information technologies, social media and the Internet of Things are tools that may encourage civic participation for the co-creation of public value and can strengthen the role of citizens in urban governance. This work seeks to explore of how social media and IoT based participation enhances the interaction between government and citizen, and for government, what capabilities are required for continuous citizen participation. The paper examines the power dynamics between government and citizens employing Giddens's theory of structuration as an analytical framework. In addition, dynamic capability theory has been applied to determine the capabilities of government needed for continuous civic participation, while proposing a citizen participation model for public value co-creation. The proposed model can serve as a framework for recognizing the vital role of citizens in public policymaking and public service provision in the smart era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Social isolation and loneliness are associated with living with a chronic condition particularly where stigma is a factor. Our study aimed to examine the lived experience of adolescents living with HIV in relation to isolation because of their diagnosis and consequences of disclosure. Giddens' structuration theory was used as an analytic framework to identify the potential mechanisms underlying adolescents living with HIV's experiences. Method: Longitudinal in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 adolescents living with HIV aged 15–24 years with each participant taking part in three interviews (total 60) between September 2020 and October 2021. Thematic analysis was performed using Braun and Clarke's steps for coding and analysing qualitative data and informed by the structuration theory framework. Results: The findings indicated that adolescents living with HIV have agency and make conscious choices about sharing their status. However, these choices are influenced by their experiences in their community. The discrimination and negative judgements they often experience prevent them from disclosing their status. Stigma, discrimination, and psychological distress contribute to the isolation that adolescents and young adults living with HIV experience. The limited disclosure itself can lead to them becoming isolated and lonely. Conclusion: The negative experiences which adolescents living with HIV face can have an impact not only on their psychological wellbeing but also on their decision to disclose and seek support. These experiences may lead to social isolation and loneliness, an unintended consequence of their action in protecting themselves from the conditions created by the structures/environment in which they live. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer programming, or what is commonly known as coding, is an emerging skill supporting the development of digital products in news media organizations. Through the application of practice theory—a hybrid approach that includes elements of field theory, actor–network theory and structuration theory—we examine the ways in which coding competencies are practiced within and across different roles, for different purposes. This exploratory study uses online interviews with 19 news product managers and leaders–or those who are tasked with the management, development, testing, and launching of digital news products–offering unique insight on coding practices across functions. Results highlight the usage, value and nuances of coding skills, providing insight into the activities, materiality, and reflexivity of computer programming as it emerges across roles in a news organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In structuration theory, Giddens emphasises the importance of social practices in shaping and reproducing social structures, believing that the constitution of agents and structures represents a duality and advocating that structure is both a medium and outcome of the reproduction of practices. The traditional culture and customs embodied in Macanese cuisine can be considered as a structured process. Macanese cuisine reflects the unique food culture and customs of Macao society, presenting an irreplaceable way of life and cultural value. Macanese cuisine has developed based on the traditional customs and practices of the Macanese. It is recognised as an important intangible cultural heritage, receiving protection and promotion from the government. However, high‐speed modernity challenges the guarantee for continuity of Macanese traditional customs. Debates continue regarding how to promote the sustainability of Macanese cuisine. This study adopts Giddens' structuration theory to understand the evolutionary process of Macanese cuisine. It reveals the significance of individual agents' initiatives in promoting the rebirth of Macanese cuisine, and preserving the distinctiveness and self‐assertion of the Macanese community. Furthermore, the fusion culture that underlies Macanese cuisine can moderate the high‐speed modernity of gastronomy tourism and promote this cuisine's sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the underlying mechanisms of exploitative innovation and exploratory innovation between social media usage and organizational agility, and elucidate the moderating role of learning goal orientation (LGO) in the above relationships, based on adaptive structuration theory (AST). Design/methodology/approach: Based on a multiple-respondent matched survey of 334 Chinese e-commerce firms, authors employed structural equation modeling to examine the correlations among social media usage, exploitative innovation, exploratory innovation and organizational agility. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the moderating role of LGO. Findings: This study's empirical findings demonstrate that exploitative innovation and exploratory innovation mediate the relationship between social media usage and organizational agility in different ways. Further, LGO positively moderates the relationship between social media usage for customer acquisition and exploratory innovation, as well as the relationship between social media usage for customer relationship and exploitative innovation. Practical implications: Firms are advised to leverage different types of social media usage to facilitate exploitative innovation and exploratory innovation and promote organizational agility. In addition, LGO within a firm should be established to enhance the effects of social media usage on exploitative innovation and exploratory innovation. Originality/value: This study adds to the literature on social media usage by proposing and examining exploitative innovation and exploratory innovation as explanatory mechanisms to facilitate organizational agility. This study further identifies LGO as a boundary condition of social media usage's effect on exploitative innovation and exploratory innovation. By contextualizing social media as advanced information technology, this study contributes to the contextualization of AST in the social media context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes as a case study a set of disagreements in the early 2000s about randomised controlled trial (RCT) evidence for a newly developed drug in the field of intensive care medicine. The interpretation of RCT findings – and in particular, the application of these findings to clinical practice – were contested among research-active intensive care doctors, despite their shared professional and epistemic values. I examine the arguments about scientific interpretation and application to clinical practice advanced by two readily identifiable groups. The analysis documents how four particular aspects of scientific knowledge were perceived and portrayed differently by the two groups, and notes how each group was associated with different kinds of routine work practices and external networks. My argument is that these differences give rise to distinctive hermeneutic frames and orientations towards the scientific results and disparities in their consequential judgements regarding the legitimate use of the newly developed drug, and I extend Stones and Turner's concept situationally specific habitus to make the link between context and hermeneutic frames and orientations. The analysis has implications for furthering our understanding of how the clinical meaning attributed to scientific evidence is affected by the context of reception of results, even where epistemic and professional values are shared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a recent narrowing of the digital divide, there remains a lag in adopting Precision Agriculture Technology (PAT). Based on structuration theory and diffusion of innovations theory, the present study uses semi-structured interviews with forty board members from two U.S. national agricultural boards to determine how internet access impacts farming leaders' knowledge and perceptions of farming PAT innovations. Farming leaders' responses suggest a lack of competition among internet service providers within areas, a reliance on cellular data to complete farming operations, limits to available internet infrastructure, and low perceived technology knowledge. Farming leaders, especially those with high perceived knowledge, noted using various farming technologies that assisted with business operations, entertainment, and social communications. Overall, many participants were willing to adopt more farming technology if they had better internet services and more technological knowledge. Farming PAT diffusion is limited by a lack of access to resources, such as knowledge, workforce, and infrastructure, even among those who tend to be more resource-rich, like farming leaders. These findings highlight how a lack of resources limits a farmer's ability to express agency over the technology they adopt and, by extension, their business operations. These findings have implications for policymakers and stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this cross-sectional study, we assessed the self-efficacy of individuals for personal protective measures against the crime of robbery, kidnapping, defilement and rape to estimate the awareness-preparedness gap of the population as contribution to overall security and safety in Ghana. We relied on the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). The intersection between social systems and technological interactions toward crime suppression and mitigation was analyzed using the Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST). The State as the "Referent Object" and the sole provider of security for itself and citizens was discussed from the lens of securitization theory in relation to the four crime types. Data were collected in 16 administrative districts in Ghana between 2021 and 2022. The sample size was N = 1 0 0 0. The test results showed that there was a statistically significant difference (Chi square = 3 2 3. 9 4 8 , 67.604, 240.161, and 274.646; p = 0. 0 1 0 , 0.000, 0.000, and 0.001, z = 2 , 2, 2, and 2) among the three categories of participants' responses (not at all, somewhat worried, and highly worried) to the question "how worried are you about (kidnapping, armed robberies, defilement, and rape) in your daily life". Although there was awareness of State and citizens about these four crimes, there was also the lack of credible intervention and mitigation strategies. This paper is unique in integrating these theories in assessing the self-efficacy of individuals' ontological security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on an under-investigated link between work–life interrelationships and health: how low-wage work impacts employees' health by influencing their management of health-related concerns. Using structuration theory, interviews with 21 low-wage service work (LWSS) women workers were analyzed to identify structures and interactional dynamics in their reported interactions with their supervisors about health-related matters that intersected with work. Three 'corporate privilege' structures or 'recipes for action' emerged, along with three 'life friendly' structures. The structures intersected in three dynamics of supervisor–worker interactions: (a) collaborative reproduction of 'corporate privilege' structures, (b) collaborative resistance to 'corporate privilege,' and (c) contested reproduction and resistance. In some situations, supervisors and workers alike reproduced corporate privilege structures. In other circumstances, supervisors and workers resisted corporate privilege structures, and in still others supervisors and workers contested structures differently, pointing to potential opportunities for more systematic disruption through organizational interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience has become increasingly popular in sustainability research and practice as a way to describe change. Within this discourse, the notion of resilience as the capacity of people, practices and processes, to persist, adapt or transform is particularly salient. The ability to bounce back from shock (persistence) or to take adaptive measures to cope with change are most commonly attributed to resilience, but at the same time, there is a strong push for a transformation agenda from various social and environmental movements. How capacities for resilience are enacted and performed through social practices remains relatively underexplored and there is potential for more dialogue and learning across disciplinary traditions. In this article, we outline the 'Resilience Capacities Framework' as a way to a) explicitly address questions of agency in how resilience capacities are enacted and b) account for the dynamic interactions between pathways of persistence, adaptation and transformation. Our starting point is to conceptualise future pathways as co-evolved, whereby social and ecological relationships are shaped through processes of selection, variation and retention, enacted in everyday practices. Drawing on theories of bricolage and structuration, we elaborate on the role of actors as bricoleurs, consciously and non-consciously shaping socio-ecological relationships and pathways of change. Informed by cases of rural change from mountain areas, we explore the extent to which an approach focusing on agency and bricolage can illuminate how the enactment of resilience capacities shapes intersecting pathways of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-mediated communication has dramatically transformed the human communication landscape by enhancing speed, content and social presence. The world has been experiencing a sharp decline in using email and phone calls due to organizations' rapid adoption of instant messenger (IM) for their day-to-day communication with their stakeholders. Moreover, the world has been experiencing a sharp decline in using email and phone calls since the beginning of the IM era. Hence, the aim of this study is to comprehend the IM adoption process through the lens of three theories. A structured questionnaire was developed to collect data from the organizations and test hypotheses using consistent PLS-SEM (PLSc) in SMART PLS combined with bootstrapping. The results indicated that parallelism is the most dominating factor explaining IM adoption in organizations followed by transmission velocity, rehearsability and symbol set. The findings of this study also confirmed that team performance is not influenced by communication but by the quality of the communication and the level of knowledge within the group that can create using instant messenger. Indeed, this empirical study is one of the limited investigations that combine three theories to explain the IM adoption process and its effect on team performance. Moreover, this study contributes both theoretically and practically to comprehending the adoption process of IM. Lastly, this study reconfirmed the importance of Media Synchronicity Theory (MST) and Social Presence Theory (SPT) in predicting IM adoption; and the findings of this research extended the applications of the Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST) from the IM perspective, which is, indeed, rare. Finally, this study provides a great foundation for managers to understand the importance of IM in their day-to-day communication systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Football supporters have an inseparable relationship with their favorite clubs, providing full support to their clubs. However, excessive behavior often leads to violence and aggression. Therefore, the presence of a coordinator in communities of football supporters is extremely important. This study analyzed the role of a coordinator as an agent in managing violent behaviors of Bonek supporters, which resonated with Giddens' primary concern in the structuration theory. In this theory, the concept of the structure must be reconstructed to relate, not to a social entity that is purely external to the human being, but wherein the structure is both the condition and consequence of human action. This research was conducted in Surabaya, Indonesia, with the coordinator and supporter community functioning as informants. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and documentations. Data analysis included collecting, reducing, and presenting data and drawing conclusions. This research indicates that the coordinator role as an agent becomes an essential and significant leadership quality of Bonek supporters as a social structure in the football community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societies are increasingly using innovation as a point of reference, thereby progressively transforming societies into innovation societies. Today, complex innovations are characteristically produced in fields where organizations play significant roles, as prom inent innovation models indicate. However, there is a lack of a conceptual framework to study the interplay between organizations and innovation fields. From a perspective informed by structuration theory, we provide such a research framework, enabling researchers to analyze how organizations increase their relevance by jointly producing innovations in innovation fields as a significant part of the organized transformation of our contemporary innovation societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book "Collaboration and Public Policy: Agency in the Pursuit of Public Purpose" by Helen Sullivan explores the intersection of collaboration and public policy in contemporary governance. The author defines collaboration as a stable configuration of rules, resources, and relationships that enables actors to work together towards public purposes. The book presents an innovative analytical framework that incorporates collaboration domains and public policy elements, emphasizing the role of human agency. Each chapter focuses on a different element of public policy and provides theoretical explanations and real-world case studies. The book challenges the traditional institutional perspective and offers valuable insights for policymakers and scholars. However, it could benefit from further exploration of external factors that shape agency in different administrative settings. Overall, the book provides a comprehensive examination of collaboration in public policy and serves as a valuable resource for further discussions and future policies. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores how Rideshare Drivers United (RDU), a fledgling union of app‐based drivers in California, works in dialectical relationship to processes of surveillance capitalism. First, the article gives a brief history of RDU's organizing strategy in the lead‐up to two strikes in the spring of 2019. RDU capitalized on social media's advertising platforms, as well as on a purpose‐built app called Solidarity, to bring together a disparate workforce. Next, drawing on Vincent Mosco's framework for the political economy of communication, the article describes how this strategy emerged in response to, and intervened in, the processes of commodification, spatialization, and structuration that constitute surveillance capitalism. Interviews with Los Angeles– and San Diego–area driver‐organizers suggest that this use of digital tools has become a mundane feature of the contemporary labor and social life. The refusal to fetishize platforms opens space for app‐based workers to challenge surveillance capitalism's logics through platform organizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This dissertation examines concepts and management in the cultural da’wah of Maulana Syaikh, TGKH. Muhammad Zainuddin Abdul Madjid in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara which was implemented at the Nahdhatul Wathan mass organization he founded. Maulana Syaikh is a charismatic scholar who has a very inspiring track record of struggle and dedication. His efforts to build the ummah through educational, social, and Islamic da’wah activities implemented through the NW and especially on the island of Lombok, are highly recognized as having had a significant influence on societal change in the region. According to the Lombok Historian, the achievements he made were the best achievements ever achieved by the Sasak people throughout history. This type of research is field research which uses descriptive analytical methods, namely presenting data that is in accordance with the research results obtained from research subjects in the field. The information and data obtained, namely by going directly to the field in accordance with the subject of this research. The instrument works by combining literature and field studies. This research uses qualitative methods with data collection techniques obtained through observation, interviews, and documentation studies. Furthermore, the collected data were processed and analyzed inductively into specific themes, then analyzed using a theoretical framework. The theoretical framework used is Giddens’ structuration theory regarding the role of agency (reflexive monitoring of action, rationalization of action, and motivation of action) and the concepts of substantives (significance, domination, and legitimacy). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter presents the use of AI tools and techniques to assess student performance and how that performance can be improved by using AI. This book, edited by Prathamesh Padmakar Churi, Shubham Joshi, Mohamed Elhoseny, and Amina Omrane, is intended for all teachers, students, policymakers in higher education and researchers interested in education technology and artificial intelligence. This chapter introduces the history of AI, types of AI, AI in education and learning, and the advantages and disadvantages of AI in education. [Extracted from the article]

Considerable sociological work shows that the human rights regime is rapidly expanding through isomorphic processes. We provide new insight into human rights diffusion through an analysis of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a global forum in which all states receive human rights recommendations from their peers. We convert the roughly 50,000 recommendations from the first two cycles of the UPR into a relational dataset of states making and receiving recommendations, inductively modeling this process of human rights diffusion through latent class regression. Building on research in the new institutionalism, we find that asymmetric relationships between states make it less likely for human rights recommendations to be accepted, with accepted recommendations tending to be more general and easier to implement. We argue that these partnership patterns provide evidence for normative corridors that give world society its shape. By drawing together world society approaches with relational sociology, we develop new insights into the structuration of human rights and normative change more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Ageing in place" is the preferred choice for the majority of older persons in China, and community care services support them in living in their homes as long as possible. Based on statistics, interview data, and policy documents, this study analyses the provision and utilisation of community care facilities in Beijing by conducting spatial and qualitative analysis based on structuration theory. The mapping and spatial analysis reveal spatial inequity in the allocation of community care facilities in Beijing, which increased from 494 in 2017 to 1,201 in 2020. Communities in suburban areas, where the older population is growing the fastest, have poorer spatial accessibility to community care services than those located in the central city. Qualitative analysis based on interviews with 28 older residents in six communities, and six managers and staff members of community care facilities, revealed high demands for community care services including daily life support, emotional support, and healthcare services, with low utilisation of the services and many challenges for service provision. Poor perception and evaluation of the services by older persons result in low utilisation of the services. Financial difficulties in service provision and limited support from the government are the major challenges reported by the managers. Strategies have also been developed to meet these challenges by the older persons and managers. Text analysis of policy documents shows the development of regulations and policies on the construction, support, and quality management of the community care system. The complex dynamics of interaction between structure and agency in resource allocation and daily practice of service delivery shapes the provision and utilisation of community care services as a relatively new mode for aged care in China. The findings support understanding the challenges of community care service provision and utilisation from a health geography perspective. Joint efforts from local governments, communities, the private sector, and older residents are needed to support ageing in place in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aimed to observe the scope of work on Anthony Giddens in the field of organizational studies in Portuguese, from 2010 to 2021, in four databases. As for the research assumption, it was established that there would be few contributions in those years, mainly due to Giddens' lack of methodological clarity. The authors used to explain the sociologist's vision were, initially, Giddens himself (1979, 1996, 2003). Subsequently, criticisms are presented through Mouzelis (1989), Archer (1982), and Stones (2005). As for the method, bibliometric research was used through 4 filters: (1st) Years from 2010 to 2021; (2nd) Areas of organizational studies - administration and sociology; (3rd) Jobs repeated twice or more; (4th) Studies with non-searchable characters. Thus, the results show that organizational studies focusing on Anthony Giddens have declined over the last few years and, in addition, it was found that they are more theoretical than empirical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study has two aims: first, it aimed to investigate the impact of contextual factors (such as information quality, service quality, system quality, trust in applications (app) and COVID-19 health anxiety) on the intention to use the Mobile Payment (MP) app, and subsequently, the actual use of the app. Second, the aim of this study is whether the COVID-19 threat has a moderating influence on the relationship between customers' intent to use MP app and the actual use of MP app. Design/methodology/approach: The data are collected through an online survey from 341 Mobile Banking (MB) app users from Pakistan to empirically analyze the relationship between service quality, system quality, information quality, trust in the app, COVID-19 health anxiety and COVID-19 threat, intentions to use MB-app and actual use of MB-app. Findings: The empirical analysis of the data collected from MB-app users from Pakistan shows that service quality, system quality, information quality, trust in the app and COVID-19 health anxiety positively related to intentions to use MB-app, consequently affect the actual use of MB-app. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the COVID-19 threat positively moderates the relationship between intentions to use MB-app and actual use of MB-app. Originality/value: Although, prior research established a positive impact of mobile apps on customer service and consumer satisfaction. Yet, it is not clear which factors influence customers to adopt MB-app. This study contributes to the research on MB-apps based on adaptive structuration theory and examines the technological factors and contextual factors that collectively explain when and how individuals decide to adopt MB-app. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degree to which party systems are ideologically and programmatically structured is central to democracy. This article analyzes differences in the extent and nature of programmatic structuration in Latin America and Europe, using a new original data source, the Chapel Hill Expert Survey-Latin America (CHES-LA), in combination with the long-standing CHES-Europe. First, we demonstrate the reliability of CHES-LA in relation to CHES-Europe, and substantiate its validity by comparing it to other expert, elite and party manifesto surveys in Latin America. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we then show that while party system structuration in Latin America is somewhat lower than in Europe, it is also of a decisively different nature. In Latin America economic and socio-cultural policy positions are largely captured in a single overlapping dimension; in Europe, by contrast, competition occurs overwhelmingly along two dimensions, each with distinct clusters of policy positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gillnets are one of the most common fishing gears globally and provide a fundamental contribution towards the income of millions of people as well as to the supply of protein. At the same time, bycatch from gillnet fisheries is one of the biggest threats to seabirds and marine mammals worldwide, because their habitats coincide spatially and temporally with gillnet fisheries. There has been research on technical solutions to unwanted bycatch, yet the social-science perspective is rather understudied. Little is known about fishers' bycatch behaviour, which can be researched as a social practice. Against the background of Anthony Giddens' structuration theory, this study used social sciences methods to analyse the bycatch practices of gillnet fishers in the German Baltic Sea. The results show that fishers normalize bycatch of seabirds as part of their fishing routine, while bycatch of marine mammals is experienced as a crisis. Underlying mechanisms for different bycatch practices are identified, and their meaning for management as well as further research questions are discussed. The perspective of normalizing and non-normalizing bycatch practices as well as fishers' own mitigation strategies should be considered by fisheries management when addressing bycatch mitigation measures as they could be designed more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the methodological and ethical challenges of doing qualitative fieldwork in an authoritarian state. Drawing on a long-term project conducted in China, I discuss how my interaction with the participants was mediated by the pervasive state power. This phenomenon adds a new layer to the question "can the subaltern speak," and calls for a refined understanding of the researcher-participant relationship. Borrowing insights from recent anthropological studies on the state and Abrams's state effect theory, I propose to move away from a static, western centric, and territory-based conceptualization of the state, and treat it as a culturally and historically specific structuration, in which researchers and participants are engaged. In this way, researchers can intentionally work against the normalizing state power yet still work with their participants. This approach leads to a more deliberate understanding of the methodological and ethical responsibilities of researchers in the process of structuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offering education by distance provides an important sociological tool for equalising opportunities in developed nations. However, for developing nations and more particularly some of the least-developed countries in the world, it has the potential to play a much larger role in providing both basic and advanced educational opportunities and, therefore, should be viewed as a necessity rather than an option. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of distance education (DE) systems in three different countries – Bangladesh, Australia and the UK. Although commonalities and differences were evident between the three systems, a number of unified constructs and associated thematic propositions emerged, and resulted in the identification of an innovative theoretical model. The ‘Adapting Structuration Theory In Distance Education (ASTIDE)’ model, conceptualised as part of a broader study, provides an underlying theoretical basis for effective DE provision across the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under today's complex and ever-changing regulatory environment, only forcing employees into compliance by wielding control or imposing punishment does not automatically lead to improved compliance awareness and performance. Based on the adaptive structuration theory and theory of planned behaviour, this study investigated the effect of Compliance Support Systems (CSS) appropriation on compliance intention. A two-stage survey was conducted to see whether the continuous use of CSS enhances users' intention to comply with laws and regulations. This approach comes under longitudinal research because it seeks to discover the causality between variables by observing research subjects at different times. The PLS-SEM analysis verified the direct and indirect impact of compliance behavioural beliefs and social pressure on compliance intention. In particular, the two factors were found to affect CSS appropriation by way of CSS quality and compliance knowledge. The proposed structural model was developed to compare the gaps of perception in different measurement times. Therefore, the findings highlight a significant role of CSS appropriation in raising compliance intention and provide practical insights by presenting the factors that enhance employees' positive and voluntary engagement in compliance behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study abroad has a long-standing tradition in higher education. Apart from the pursuit of knowledge that cannot be confined by the boundaries of nation-state, sending local talents to study abroad has also been a strategy to build capacity in a developing/emerging nation like Malaysia. This article focuses on the stories and experiences of Malaysian in adjusting and adapting to the local situation as academic staff when they returned to Malaysian universities after their doctoral study abroad. Through thematic analysis and guided by Structuration Theory, this article illustrates structural constraints in the form of research governance, practices and cultures, as well as agency manifestations of these returnees to overcome and address these constraints and challenges. These stories and experiences are important to understand and to make recommendations to improve the governance, practices and culture of universities especially in developing/emerging systems globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lived experiences of chronic conditions are marked by fluidity and change, which should be considered if care is to be truly patient-centered. Seeking to capture this fluidity, we used digital diaries via mobile phones to communicate with hypertensive patients in the Philippines over approximately 12 months. This paper draws on Strong Structuration Theory to conceptualize the complex array of factors shaping participants' usage (and non-usage) of the diaries, thereby offering a comprehensive understanding of how the diaries were perceived and used. We draw on qualitative data from 42 participants (73 baseline/follow-up interviews and 37 digital diaries), purposively selected from a larger pool of quantitative participants, as well as existing literature and our own study documents. The Philippines 'digital divide' presented barriers to the usage of the diaries, stemming from a lack of access and mobile signal especially in socioeconomically marginalized rural areas. Within this context, the sharing of mobile phones both enabled and constricted diary participation. Guided by Strong Structuration Theory, we observed three cycles of structuration evident in participants' usage of diaries. The first pertained to the frequency and mode of engagement. A low level of engagement was observed, stemming from negative or ambivalent attitudes toward texting and other factors. Conversely, mobile phone 'top-ups' enabled participation. Participant usage of the diaries as tools for monitoring hypertension and to request health advice comprise the second and third structuration cycles. These usages contrast with researchers' intended usage of the diaries and with the original brief given to participants. The conflict between participants' and researchers' understanding of the appropriate uses of the diaries represents the dynamic field of position-practice relations, wherein agents are situated and interact, either perpetuating or challenging existing societal structures. Our findings underline the importance of considering macro- and meso-level factors when considering or conducting research using digital diaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Realizing or appropriating value from individual firm-level IT investments has been a recurring theme in the IS literature for decades. Further, failure rates related to IT investments have been high for many years. However, realizing value from IT in settings where numerous organizations need to work together to co-develop sizable digital platforms has been undertheorized and/or hobbled with conflated theoretical constructs. To address this dearth of novel theory and accompanying empiricism, high-quality processes such as benefits management have been suggested in the scientific literature and have gained substantial interest in practice as a means for organizations to structure their routines and processes in ways that actually capture value. The complexity of this challenge suggests that there should be a renewed theoretical effort in IS to reconceptualize several extant scholarly streams. We address this challenge first by deconstructing traditional scholarly frameworks into a moderated theoretical model of multi-creation and multi-realization of IT value termed "MUIT." The first construct in the model is based on the resource-based view; then, the model is further informed by appropriation theory, adaptive structuration theory, network governance theory, and, finally, the benefits management literature. Our variance model is a Type IV theory according to Gregor's typology--a theory for explaining and predicting how largescale strategic consortia can collaborate to realize greater value from IT than they could in isolation. Regarding praxis, we contribute to the understanding of how interorganizational resources and capabilities, relationships, and value realization can be spring-boarded into both successful large-scale platforms and superior realization of benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project management is used to coordinate effort during tasks, such as new product design, software engineering, and supply chain improvement. An essential component of project management is the communication plan that directs team members in their use of communication channels for information sharing during the project. Yet, few decision-making tools exist that can help project managers understand the tradeoffs of different communication plans. Herein we connect theory and practice to advance a computational model that provides objective-based assessments of communication plans and helps managers weigh tradeoffs of cost, time, and quality in the use of communication channels across the project. We draw on adaptive structuration theory to understand the impetus to utilize technology in group settings and media richness to explain the capabilities of channels that offer rich synchronous platforms (for e.g., phone, face-to-face, and web conference) and asynchronous lean approaches (for e.g., email, message board, and archive). We describe the tool based on a multiple-criteria decision making model. This model contributes a theoretically based decision support tool for project communication plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although cash transfers primarily support beneficiaries' consumption of goods for basic needs, there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating that they can promote livelihood activities. Yet there has been limited understanding of the gender-related challenges of female beneficiaries who participate in such livelihood activities. This paper presents findings from an exploratory qualitative study conducted in a poor urban community of Johannesburg. Giddens's structuration theory provides an analytical lens to understand the gender-related challenges and responses of female beneficiaries in conducting livelihood activities. The findings show that even though female and male beneficiaries were found to engage in the same income-generating activities, the former were confronted with gender-related challenges that limit their economic progress. This study contributes to understanding the gender-related challenges and dynamics of female operators in the informal economy, who are overrepresented among those impoverished by COVID-19 pandemic and as such need special attention and effective economic support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of the study was to gain insight on how nurse leaders manage a culture of safety for graduate nurses. Background: Current theoretical approaches to safety culture tend towards a checklist approach that focuses on institutional characteristics, failing to examine the quality of interpersonal relationships. These interpersonal interactions are often seen as separate from the institutional realities of resource allocation, nurse–patient ratios, patient acuity or throughput. A theoretical approach is required to illuminate the dialectic between the structure of an organisation and the agency created by nurse leaders to promote patient safety. Design Qualitative exploratory descriptive study. Methods: Semi‐structured interviews were undertaken with 24 nurse leaders from hospital and aged care settings. Thematic analysis and Giddens structuration theory was used to describe the findings. Results: Nurse leaders identified a range of reciprocal communicative and cultural norms and values, decision‐making processes, personal nursing philosophies, strategies and operational procedures to foster patient safety and mentor graduate nurses. The mentoring of graduate nurses included fostering critical thinking, building and affirming formal structural practices such as handover, teamwork, medication protocols and care plans. Conclusions: The study provides insight into how nurse leaders foster a culture of safety. Emphasis is placed on how agency in nurse leaders creates an environment conducive to learning and support for graduate nurses. Implications for Nursing Management: Nurse leadership functions and decision‐making capacity hinges on multiple factors including practicing agency and aspects of the social structure such as the rules for safe communication, and the various institutional protocols. Nurse leaders enforce these forms of engagement and practice through their legitimation as leaders. They have both allocative and authoritative resources; they can command resources, direct staff to attend to patients and/or clinical tasks, mentor, guide, assign, correct and encourage with the authority vested in them by the formal structure of the organisation. In doing so, they sustain the structure and reinforce it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, it is aimed to discuss what the forms of intervention to the female body were in Iranian society after the 1979 revolution and on which religious-ideological grounds this intervention was based. For this purpose, the movie Persepolis, which was released in the USA in 2007, was analyzed using the discourse analysis technique within the scope of qualitative research method. The main questions sought to be answered in this analysis were: Which bodily intervention tools does the political power use against Iranian women? On what argument(s) does it justify these tools? What are the indicators that describe the bodily intervention and what are their meanings? What strategies does the Iranian woman develop against these policies towards her? Answers to these questions were sought from the perspective of Anthony Giddens' "structuration theory". The most basic finding reached at the end of the analysis is that, despite the controlling and restrictive effect of the political system on women in the post-revolutionary Iranian society, women also took an active role in transforming the political system, sometimes through active and sometimes passive resistance. As a matter of fact, it is possible to interpret some of the gains achieved by women's movements in today's Iranian society as the effect of this transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article applies adaptive structuration theory (AST) to Google technologies. AST describes the ways in which information technologies change organizations. The theory seeks to identify diverse sources of structuration between technologies, social structures and human interactions in organizations. Google technologies refers to a variety of Google internet-based applications, such as Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Docs and Google Sites. The objective of this article, then, is to understand the ways in which Google has changed organizations and attitudes among virtual teams. For example, a major finding is that, based on four dimensions (i.e., leadership, efficiency, conflict management and atmosphere), Google technologies allows for a more consensus-based rational decision-making process and equal participation by all members rather than domination by a few. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research directed at institutions focusing on diverse aspects of childreńs social and cognitive development outside school is a growing field. This article discusses Swedish school-age educare centres for children between 6–12 years of age before and after school. These centres are regarded as important for young children's learning and care, although national statistics and an increasing amount of research shows that the preconditions for fulfilling these assignments are not favourable. This case study is based on Giddens' theory of structuration and studies staff at three educare centres using a mix of different methods, including interviews, observations and vignettes. The staff assert that their work is regarded as subordinate to that of class teachers. This is demonstrated by distant management, a fragmented working day and a lack of time for planning the work. These conditions are seen to affect the quality and the staff´s opportunities to fulfil their mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated care is an aim and a method for organising health and care services, particularly for older people and those with chronic conditions. Policy expects that integrated care programmes will provide person‐centred coordinated care which will improve patient or client experience, enable population health, prevent hospital admissions and thereby reduce costs. However, empirical evaluations of integrated care interventions have shown disappointing results. We analysed an in‐depth case study using Strong Structuration Theory to ask: how and why have efforts to integrate health and social care failed to produce desired outcomes? In our case, integrated case management and the creation of cost‐saving plans were dominant practices. People working in health and social care recursively produced a structure of integrated care: a recognised set of resources created by collective activities. Integrated care, intended to help patients manage their long‐term conditions and avoid hospital admission, was only a small part of the complex network that sustained patients at home. The structures of integrated care were unable to compensate for changes in patients' health. The result was that patients' experiences remained largely unaffected and hospital admissions were not easily avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current research suggests a disparity in identifying which critical themes in the political rhetoric of Duterte advantageously framed him as an appealing candidate. Structuration theory was borrowed to understand Duterte populism as being able to harness influences on individual agency and structural factors. The main thesis of this article proposes that Duterte created an "imagined spatiality" situating Filipino voters (agency) within geosocial positions (structure) through his electoral craft gravitating on "geo-social divide." Using ethnographiccontent analysis, Duterte's rhetoric was studied not only focusing on his peculiar style but, at the same time, how it articulated "imagined spatiality" to cast his persona as the champion of the (marginalized) Bisayan. When put together, one can fully grasp how Duterte materializes imagined spatiality through codes that can be revealed intertextually, just as this study uncovers them with the use of structuration theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In recent years, South Africa has continued to experience a high rate of young people who are not in employment, education, or training (NEET). The emergence of the concept 'NEET' affords researchers an opportunity to more closely examine the life situations and experiences of this population sub-group. The purpose of this paper is thus to further explore the life situations and lived experiences of people in South Africa who are NEET. Structuration theory is adopted to better understand how social structures play a role in the lives of people who are NEET. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 24 NEET people over a period of two months in South Africa. This paper presents a section of the findings from a broader study that used self-administered interviews to collect data in three metropolitan municipalities of Gauteng Province, the economic heartland of South Africa. Findings: The findings indicate that poverty remains an obstacle for many young people in furthering their studies or developing their ideas into businesses. Also evident is that there are NEETs who are taking action to disconnect from the NEET sub-group by means of seeking work, funding, or volunteering for initiatives, among other activities. Lack of financial support affects most NEETs perpetuating their vulnerability and their efforts to detach themselves from their NEET status. It is evident that most NEETs who took part in this study are still seeking opportunities to become economically active, regardless of their current financial situations. Originality/value: There remains a lack of adequate exploration and understanding of the experiences and life situations of people who are NEET. The relevance of this study is in its contribution towards extending the applicability of structuration theory to understanding the life situations of people who are NEET in South Africa. This study contributes to the literature by providing the experiences and life situations of people who are NEET in a country with already high levels of inequalities. It is hoped that this study may provide the basis for developing more specific policy solutions able to address the NEET issues in South Africa and in society more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The private media are often seen as a part of the corrupt network, particularly in developing countries considered corrupt. Using Giddens's theory of structuration and data from in-depth semi-structured interviews, this article addresses a key question: What motivates some Ghanaian private media to expose political corruption? I argue that human agency and structural conditions are important in understanding whether the private media tackle political corruption. Whether the private media choose to expose political corruption depends on democratic freedoms, journalistic professionalism, financial considerations, personal experience, and political interests among different agents, including media owners, journalists, politicians, and business owners. The findings indicate that unless media owners and journalists are determined to address political corruption, the enabling structural conditions for the performance of media watchdog functions are meaningless. This study suggests that agents and, for that matter, human beings are not machines programmed to act only in certain ways based on structural conditions in which they are embedded. This article makes significant contributions to the literature in the fields of media, corruption, political science, and sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we propose a methodological tool that seeks to contribute to the empirical study of practices in organization studies. There is a need for innovating and improving analytical tactics for theorizing about practice, particularly for helping connect localized social interactions to broader contexts. We propose the "temporal bracketing of discourses" tool and provide a detailed example that empirically illustrates its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scholarship is growing to capture the diversified anti-Islamophobia responses by individuals or Muslim organisations. Limited attention, however, is directed at examining the extent to which Islamophobia discourses infiltrate and shape Muslim Community Organisations' (MCOs) anti-Islamophobia responses. I deploy Stones' Strong Structuration Theory SST to examine Australian MCOs' perceptions and responses to capture the extent to which Islamophobia discourses infiltrate their anti-Islamophobia strategies. I examine MCOs' interpretations of their religious and political positions within the broader context of Islamophobia discourses. My findings reveal that two ostensibly contrasting frames of meaning inform MCOs' responses: assertive and apologetic. I argue, however, that these frames of meanings are nuanced and fluid due to their emergence within the broader structure of Islamophobia discourses. I conclude, therefore, that MCOs anti-Islamophobia strategies and actions emerge within and because of Islamophobia as pragmatic conscious and unconscious reactions, however, with transforming ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increased popularity of mobile learning, there is a growing demand on the understanding of how the scalable technology, such as mobile devices, influences individual learning behaviours as well as their learning outcome. A theoretical model was built based on the adaptive structuration theory (AST) and the knowledge spiral theory. Using this model, we examined the relationship between structural sources, individuals' adaptive structural behaviours, and their perceived learning. A Structural Equation Modeling method was employed in our empirical study. Findings indicate that users' task adaptation had a positive influence on their perceived learning, In addition, their exploitive technology adaptation influenced the ultimate perceived learning, but the impact of users' exploratory technology adaptation on learning was mediated by their task adaptation. Contrary to expectations, the effect of computer self-efficacy on exploitive and exploratory technology adaptation was negative, and exploratory technology adaptation negatively affected exploitive task adaptation. A detailed discussion of the findings and implications are provided in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A variety of self-directed opportunities to learn how to program are available to kids. But how do kids manage the motivational and cognitive challenges of creating projects? Methods: I examined this question in the context of kids working at home with the Scratch programming environment, based on thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 30 young creators discussing their project development processes. Findings: Ten strategies were central to kids' progress with their projects: experimenting, planning, compromising, persevering, taking a break, asking for help, studying projects, adapting projects, creating with others, and helping others learn. Drawing on structuration theory, which frames an individual's purposeful actions as connected to the internal and external structures to which they have access, I recast these kids' strategies as connected to three key structures—personal interests, access to others, and time—with both enabling and inhibiting effects. Contribution: This study contributes to decades-long conversations about self-directed learning, offering a new view into the relationship between structure and self-direction by applying structuration theory to informal computer science learning. It offers a set of structures to consider when designing in support of self-direction, and acknowledges the prior problem-solving strategies that learners may bring to new areas of learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance management system in public sector has undergone significant changes in new public management regime. Countries adopting new public management have brought changes in styles and modalities of performance management in public sector with the sole purpose of ensuring service quality to the satisfaction of service recipients. This research has adopted a qualitative research methodology under epistemological and ontological paradigm of social inquiry to study the performance management system of a government owned department in Australian Capital Territory. Giddens' Structuration theory has been applied as theoretical framework to develop a thick description of social reality. An in-depth case study method has been used as a predominant research methodology supplemented by observation, interview and review of archival records. The study reveals that new public management ideology has been successful in ensuring performance of the department from multi-facet dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a critical analysis of the Chartered Institute for Management of Sport and Physical Activity's (CIMSPA) transformative aspirations for UK Higher Education (HE) based Sport and Physical Activity Vocational Education and Training (SPAVET) provision. In doing so, we apply selected elements of Giddens' Structuration theory to offer an analysis of CIMSPA's structural properties (as rules and resources) and dimensions (signification, domination and legitimation). Illustration of CIMSPA's structural properties and dimensions was developed through adopting an institutional analysis strategy alongside a document analysis method. Publicly available strategic documents and web-based resources (N = 18) were selected and analysed using open-coding techniques. Our analysis shows how continued state-sanctioned decentralisation of the UK HE sector has led to CIMSPA becoming an increasingly influential transformative structure; attempting to use its structural dimensions and resources as a medium to gain and exercise power, to promote (signification) – market-orientated discourses, practices and pedagogies in HEI provision, (domination) – in an attempt to significantly influence regulatory control over UK SPAVET provision and (Legitimation) – create partnerships which normalise its position and message within selected UK HEIs. We conclude that whilst the transformative aspirations of CIMSPA offer a number of possibilities for the HE SPAVET sector, they also raise critical questions. The central issue requiring debate is how these aspirations shift dialectical control towards vocationally focused, market-orientated principles and away from the liberal educational, research-led principles of some current UK HE SPAVET provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research in this paper adds to the discussion linked to the challenge of capturing and modeling tacit knowledge throughout software development projects. The issue emerged when modeling functional requirements during a project for a client. However, using the design science research methodology at a particular point in the project helped to create an artifact, a functional requirements modeling technique, that resolved the issue with tacit knowledge. Accordingly, this paper includes research based upon the stages of the design science research methodology to design and test the artifact in an observable situation, empirically grounding the research undertaken. An integral component of the design science research methodology, the knowledge base, assimilated structuration and semiotic theories so that other researchers can test the validity of the artifact created. First, structuration theory helped to identify how tacit knowledge is communicated and can be understood when modeling functional requirements for new software. Second, structuration theory prescribed the application of semiotics which facilitated the development of the artifact. Additionally, following the stages of the design science research methodology and associated tasks allows the research to be reproduced in other software development contexts. As a positive outcome, using the functional requirements modeling technique created, specifically for obtaining tacit knowledge on the software development project, indicates that using such knowledge increases the likelihood of deploying software successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the human diet, starch makes a significant contribution to the maintenance of human nutrition and health due to its controlled digestibility. Starch digestion is controlled by its microstructure. Increasing developments in the modification of starch multi-scale structures that modulate digestibility have taken place due to increasing attention to health-promoting starchy foods. The process of starch structuration is a challenging concern in food science since the basic principles for designing starch structures with a specific digestibility are unknown. Starch multi-scale structures significantly affect digestibility. However, starch digestibility cannot be precisely modulated without a solid theory of starch structuration to inform the tailoring of the digestibility of starchy foods. In this review, the effects of starch multi-scale structures (fine structures of amylose and amylopectin; short-range ordered structures; helical, crystalline, lamellar, aggregate structures; and structures formed after food processing) on the digestibility and the molecular mechanisms of the regulation of starch digestion are comprehensively discussed. The key structures that can be manipulated for target-modulation of starch digestibility are summarized. Basic principles for mitigating starch digestibility, such as increasing the thickness of semi-crystalline lamellae and crystalline lamellae, nanoscale aggregates, V-, A-, or B-type crystals, double helices, long amylopectin helices, short-range ordered structures, the content of amylose fractions and high-branched amylopectin are established. Ordered starch structures, including short-range and long-range ordered structures, play critical roles in mitigating starch digestibility while faulty- and perfectly arranged helical, crystalline, lamellar structures, and nano aggregates are proposed to be slowly digestible and resistant starches, respectively. • Reciprocal effects of starch multi-scale structures on starch digestion are reviewed. • Principles in starch structuration that mitigate starch digestibility are established. • Perspectives focused on starch structuration and modulation of digestion are presented. • Multi-scale structural features of starches with differing digestibility are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dramatic increase in express delivery packaging poses severe environmental threats, making recycling a top priority. A comprehensive conceptual framework was developed for exploring citizens' recycling behavior by integrating structuration and social network theories, and the nonlinear effects of determinants were identified. Further, the 1538 micro-data obtained from five eastern Chinese cities are used for descriptive, correlation, and ordinary least squares regression analysis. It is clarified that there are three distinct recycling behavior patterns, the most prevalent of which is collection station recycling behavior (CSRB), followed by mart equipment recycling behavior (SERB), and door-to-door recycling behavior (DTDRB). The empirical results indicate that social sanctions, responsibility attribution, and centrality positively predict recycling behaviors. Place attachment strengthens SERB and DTDRB. Notably, the authority effect exerts inverted U-shaped effects on recycling behaviors, and trust has an inverted U-shaped effect on CSRB. This study reveals the nonlinear effects of variables, and the findings provide implications for recycling practice. • Construct an integrated model considering social structuration and network theories. • Empirical reveal the possible negative impacts of positive antecedent. • Three kinds of recycling behavior exist among Chinese citizens. • Authority effect exerts an inverted U-shaped effect on recycling behaviors. • Trust has an inverted U-shaped effect on collection station recycling behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]