The Association between Researchers’Conceptions of Research and Their Strategic Research Agendas

Purpose:In studies of the research process,the association between how researchers conceptualize research and their strategic research agendas has been largely overlooked.This study aims to address this gap.Design/methodology/approach:This study analyzes this relationship using a dataset of more than 8,500 researchers across all scientific fields and the globe.It studies the associations between the dimensions of two inventories:the Conceptions of Research Inventory(CoRI)and the Multi-Dimensional Research Agenda Inventory—Revised(MDRAI-R).Findings:The findings show a relatively strong association between researchers’conceptions of research and their research agendas.While all conceptions of research are positively related to scientific ambition,the findings are mixed regarding how the dimensions of the two inventories relate to one another,which is significant for those seeking to understand the knowledge production process better.Research limitations:The study relies on self-reported data,which always carries a risk of response bias.Practical implications:The findings provide a greater understanding of the inner workings of knowledge processes and indicate that the two inventories,whether used individually or in combination,may provide complementary analytical perspectives to research performance indicators.They may thus offer important insights for managers of research environments regarding how to assess the research culture,beliefs,and conceptualizations of individual researchers and research teams when designing strategies to promote specific institutional research focuses and strategies.Originality/value:To the best of the authors’knowledge,this is the first study to associate research agendas and conceptions of research.It is based on a large sample of researchers working worldwide and in all fields of knowledge,which ensures that the findings have a reasonable degree of generalizability to the global population of researchers.

Intelligent health in the IS area:A literature review and research agenda

As the global demand for healthcare services continues to grow,improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the healthcare ecosystem has become a pressing concern.Information systems are transforming the healthcare delivery process,shifting the focus of healthcare services from passive disease treatment to proactive health prevention and the healthcare management model from hospital-centric to patient-centric.This study focuses on reviewing research in IS journals on the topic of e-health and is dedicated to constructing a theoretical model of intelligent health to provide a research basis for future discussions in this field.In addition,as the innovation of intelligent healthcare services has led to changes in its elements(e.g.,an increase in the number of stakeholders),there is an urgent need to sort out and analyze the existing research.

New Perspectives on Restructuring of Old Industrial Areas in China: A Critical Review and Research Agenda

The restructuring of old industrial areas has been receiving much attention in regional development studies both in industrialized and emerging economies. Although ample Chinese-speaking studies have been published on the topic, most of them suffer from paying too little attention to dynamic multi-scalar interactions between firms, institutions, policies and places, as well as a too strong focus on individual cases. They also mostly disregard internationally recognized concepts and theories in the field. Based on these internationally recognized modern concepts, this paper therefore puts forward some potential avenues for future research on the evolution of old industrial areas in China, which should overcome existing deficits in the Chinese-speaking literature. It suggests that some evolutionary economic geography concepts such as path dependence, lock-in, path creation, relatedness, as well as multi-scalar institutional and leadership approaches have useful potentials to better understand the evolutionary processes and mechanisms of old industrial areas in China.

Necessity Is the Mother of Invention for Research and Extension Agenda of Rubber Smallholders

Researchers and extensionists would pursue their interests to develop new inventions and encourage rubber smallholders to adopt new technology and practices to increase production of their holdings. Three interrelated systems, research and development （R＆D） system, extension/delivery system and client （smallholders） system, are responsible to make the rubber industry viable and dynamic. The extension system is also encouraged to identify and carry out related research activities besides its own core function to enhance clients＇ understanding and to use the findings as basis to plan effective strategies for implementation. Knowledge acquisition among clients is critical in capacity building process. With knowledge, clients tend to develop favorable attitude and use it to develop specific skill to practice recommended technology and new practices. Necessity is the mother of invention in times of need, especially when rubber price is low. Researchers, extensionists and smallholders are ＂forced＂ to collaborate and become creative to fred alternative ways and uses of natural rubber to increase demand of the commodity. When natural rubber price is low, funding for research needs to be maintained at current level, or in some cases, funding is increased to ensure that the industry is not void of new technology and new products. The main goal of the rubber industry is to ensure that new technology and practices are continuously being generated and developed by researchers to be adopted by rubber smallholders. The adoption of new technology and practices by smallholders ensures that production of natural rubber continues to increase, while income of smallholders is maintained or increased at an appreciative level to offset low rubber prices. There is an inclination in the rubber industry that when the commodity＇s price is low, activities and programs related to research and dissemination of research results would follow to be reduced, resulting in stagnation and opportunities for future growth of the industry. The National Blue Ocean Strategy （NBOS） should be used to harness expertise in research among researchers of local universities, as well as to cooperate among extensionists from agencies at state and national levels to help disseminate research results. The NBOS can reduce cost, and has bigger impacts and wider applications of natural rubber for local and international markets.

Knowledge-intensive Business Services in National Innovation Systems

In order to find the roles of knowledge-intensive business services （KIBS） in the innovation activities, This paper focus on three perspectives. First, we find that KIBS possess good prerequisites to function as vehicles in innovation distribution, the sources of innovation and the facilitators of innovation in their client firms. Second, we further discuss KIBS as the knowledge and innovation infrastructure of society in parallel with the research, educational and other public institutions. Third, we present some research policies and agenda to promote the development of KIBS. It is regarded that much remains to be studied both in the use of KIBS and in their own activities, including integrating and networking the knowledge-intensive services into the client companies, the convergence of various services and closer connection with the client companies＇ strategy, and the national policies to connect the KIBS to the different sectors.

Doctoral research on architecture in Niseria： Exploring domains, extending boundaries

This paper explored through a literature review, the domains of research in Architecture and the nature of doctoral research, with a view to contributing to the evolving research agenda in the Nigerian context. The research method involved a descriptive and thematic analysis of the titles and abstracts of completed doctoral theses in Architecture in Nigeria, in the last 26 years （1990-2015）, complemented by semi-structured interviews with six key informants. The study revealed an emphasis on Housing-related topics （34%） relative to other research modules, such as＇ History and Theory＇ （20%） and ＇Design and Production＇ （18%）. It also reflected the limited coverage and scope of current research, relative to the global terrain, as evidenced in the article titles and contents of 45 Architecture-related Journals. The results of the interviews indicated the strong influence of supervisors＇ areas of interest in the choices of thesis titles. It highlighted reasons for the perceived focus on Housing, which reflect its unique place and multi-disciplinary nature. It concluded that extending the boundaries of architectural research at the doctoral level could be beneficial to the discipline and profession in Nigeria in order to align with global trends, while keeping cognizance of the local contexts.

A Multi-Level Analytical Framework of Firm Strategic Change

Firm strategic change has attracted increased attention from strategic management scholars over the past few decades. With an aim to review the existing research and to provide a future research agenda, this study presents a multi-level analytical framework of the drivers of a firm＇s strategic change. Specifically, we focus on the environment-, organizational-, and individual-level factors. Empirical studies at each of the three levels have been thoroughly reviewed. We further discuss the theoretical differences and relationships among the three levels of factors. This study concludes with important theoretical implications for firm strategic change research and also suggests a few future research directions on this topic.

The Teaching and Learning of Chinese as a Second or Foreign Language:The Current Situation and Future Directions

In this opening commentary,we highlight the development of the teaching and learning of Chinese as a second or foreign language(CSL/CFL),which has attracted much attention from researchers,language educators,and other stakeholders worldwide.To contribute to this ongoing examination and discussion,this special issue documents the collective efforts of scholars in different educational contexts to review six critical issues in teaching and learning CSL/CFL:learning and instruction of reading Chinese as an additional language,Chinese character teaching and learning,learner identity in CSL/CFL education,teaching and learning Chinese through immersion,technology assisted CSL/CFL teaching and learning,and mobile assisted learning CFL.We contend that all efforts to address these critical issues require constant examination to facilitate further development in CSL/CFL education around the world.