In this innovative approach to the practice of social science, Charles Ragin explores the use of fuzzy sets to bridge the divide between quantitative and qualitative methods. Paradoxically, the fuzzy set is a powerful tool because it replaces an unwieldy, "fuzzy" instrument—the variable, which establishes only the positions of cases relative to each other, with a precise one—degree of membership in a well-defined set. Ragin argues that fuzzy sets allow a far richer dialogue between ideas and evidence in social research than previously possible. They let quantitative researchers abandon "homogenizing assumptions" about cases and causes, they extend diversity-oriented research strategies, and they provide a powerful connection between theory and data analysis. Most important, fuzzy sets can be carefully tailored to fit evolving theoretical concepts, sharpening quantitative tools with in-depth knowledge gained through qualitative, case-oriented inquiry. This book will revolutionize research methods not only in sociology, political science, and anthropology but in any field of inquiry dealing with complex patterns of causation.

Fuzzy-Set Social Science

OVERVIEW The GRA Marketing Internship Program is offered to students who are interested in gaining valuable work experience through efforts in marketing, membership, sales, and events. Interns work directly to assist the Director of Marketing and Communications on various tasks relating to upcoming GRA events. During this internship, students will work a minimum of 10 hours a week and a maximum of 20 hours a week. Students are encouraged to earn credit for their internship, however this is a paid internship. Students interested in obtaining credit for their internship must consult their academic advisor or the intern coordinator at their academic unit.

Role of WHO.

Redesigning Social Inquiry Fuzzy Sets And Beyond

Despite the growing importance of digital innovation conceptualized as innovative digital solutions that enable digital transformation of businesses across industries, empirical study of factors related to digital innovation is still scant, creating a knowledge gap. To fill this gap, this paper aims to examine the effect of digital orientation and digital capability on digital innovation, and also the mediating effect of digital innovation on the link between organizational performance and digital orientation as well as digital capability.,This study tests a new conceptual framework using a survey data of 105 small to medium-sized IT firms in Malaysia and employing structural equation model (SEM) analysis from partial least square (PLS) approach.,The results show that digital orientation and digital capability have positive effect on digital innovation and also that digital innovation mediates the effect of technology orientation and digital capability on financial and non-financial performance.,The findings encourage the firms to take the opportunity of emerging digital technologies and digitalization trend in industries by being committed toward embracing new digital technologies and upgrading their digital capabilities to become innovation leaders and also to boost firms’ performance.,This study is one of the first studies that explain how emerging digital technologies can be leveraged to create innovative digital products and services and subsequently boost their business performance. It also fills the literature gaps related to driving factors of digital innovation and mediating role of digital innovation on the link between its driving factors and performance.

Digital technology, digital capability and organizational performance

Information Technology Capability and Firm Performance: Role of Industry

Purpose – The increasing demand for post-secondary education, and the ongoing difficulty students’ face in securing appropriate work upon program completion, highlight the importance of an enhanced understanding of employability resources for university graduates. Just as organizations achieve a strategic advantage from resources and dynamic capabilities (DCs), university graduates can similarly apply these principles and tactics to be competitive in the job market. The purpose of this paper is to ask the question: how can new graduates enhance their competitive advantage when entering the employment market? To address this question the authors propose to adopt the DCs framework to analyze the competitive advantage of a graduate and argue that university graduates can take specific steps to enhance their own competitive advantage in the labor market. Design/methodology/approach – An extensive review of the existing human resource and strategic management literature was used to develop a conceptual DCs mod...

A Dynamic Capabilities View of Employability: Exploring the Drivers of Competitive Advantage for University Graduates.

This paper aims to examine the effectiveness of organizational information technology (IT)-based and non-IT-based knowledge transfer mechanisms (KTMs) for the retention of different types of knowledge from mobile experts. It differentiates among four types of knowledge loss (KL), namely, conscious knowledge (i.e. individual explicit knowledge that can be codified); codified knowledge (i.e. explicit knowledge captured at the social level); automatic knowledge (i.e. implicit individual knowledge); and collective knowledge (i.e. implicit knowledge embedded in the organization).,A research framework connecting the organizational knowledge retention (KR) cycle to KL is developed and an exploratory analysis is conducted using data from two case studies in the Canadian federal public service. Findings are confirmed using a third government agency.,Without the right processes in place for organizational knowledge retrieval and reuse, the KR cycle is not complete, leading to KL. The lack of available social KTMs for the conversion of individual to social objectified knowledge leads to KL. KTMs shortcomings increase the risk of automatic and objectified KL.,Exploratory results demonstrate that KL does not always equate to lack of KR. Implementing knowledge-specific organizational KTMs is important to encourage the retention of individual knowledge at the social level. Propositions and a framework are developed for future research.,Mobile experts hold valuable knowledge at high risk of being lost by organizations. This paper provides managers with a set of guidelines to develop a knowledge-specific strategy focused on KTMs that increase KR and mitigate KL.,This paper challenges the assumption that KL only results from poor retention and studies both retention and loss to identify additional types of unintentional loss that occur when individual knowledge is not converted to social knowledge.

Organizational knowledge retention and knowledge loss

Role of Digital Capabilities in Unleashing the Power of Managerial Improvisation

Knowledge is a critical resource for organizations that compete in unpredictable and fast-changing environments. Effective management of knowledge resources using both information systems (IS) and non-IS-based tools enhances innovation and overall organizational performance. As an important component of knowledge management, knowledge retention initiatives focus on ensuring that created knowledge is effectively retained by an organization and can be reused by organizational members. Past research has mostly equated increased retained knowledge to lower knowledge loss. In this chapter, we challenge this assumption and examine whether IS-enabled knowledge retention and knowledge loss can simultaneously result from the use of knowledge retention tools. Results from a case study within a knowledge-intensive public service organization demonstrate that knowledge loss is not always the opposite of knowledge retention. Indeed, we found instances when knowledge retention and knowledge loss occurred concurrently. Our findings call for new ways of conceptualizing and studying knowledge retention and knowledge loss, as well as new strategies to improve knowledge reuse in organizations.

Knowledge loss and retention: the paradoxical role of IT

Following the Methods, Approaches, Perspectives (MAP) in IS Research

Nadège Levallet

Papers

A Dynamic Capabilities View of Employability: Exploring the Drivers of Competitive Advantage for University Graduates.

Organizational knowledge retention and knowledge loss

Role of Digital Capabilities in Unleashing the Power of Managerial Improvisation

Knowledge loss and retention: the paradoxical role of IT

Following the MAP (Methods, Approaches, Perspectives) in Information Systems Research