This chapter focuses on transforming cross-cultural conflict and misunderstanding into a learning opportunity, using a case study to illustrate an approach that has proven…
Abstract
This chapter focuses on transforming cross-cultural conflict and misunderstanding into a learning opportunity, using a case study to illustrate an approach that has proven effective in tens of thousands of conflicts. This approach surfaces cultural values and approaches to work, toward improving intercultural management practices. It also supports employees to resolve their issues themselves, toward more sustainable solutions.
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James Shein and Loredana Yamada
Sara Lee Corporation's acquisition binge in the 1980s and 1990s left the company with a portfolio of vastly different businesses operating independently of one another. It had…
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Sara Lee Corporation's acquisition binge in the 1980s and 1990s left the company with a portfolio of vastly different businesses operating independently of one another. It had experienced rapid top-line growth, but at the same time cash flows had declined. Sara Lee ignored both internal and external warning signs until a major transformation plan became necessary. This case examines the company's multiple turnaround attempts. The learning objective of the case is to analyze “early stage” turnaround efforts by examining how the company found itself in decline, evaluating its attempts to improve its performance, and assessing the turnaround plan.
(1) Learn to identify a specific challenging moment when reading and analyzing a turnaround plan; (2) address the implementation problems of an early stage turnaround and discuss exit options; (3) evaluate when a change of long-held beliefs and decades-long strategy by a company is warranted; (4) evaluate Sara Lee's marketing strategies in light of the disappointed retail and wholesale customers; and (5) show the similarities in traits between turnaround managers and high-growth entrepreneurs.
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Bradley Z. Hull and Scott J. Allen
The authors describe an exploratory analytical tool called The 5Ps Leadership Analysis (Personal Attributes, Position, Purpose, Practices/Processes, and Product) as a heuristic…
Abstract
The authors describe an exploratory analytical tool called The 5Ps Leadership Analysis (Personal Attributes, Position, Purpose, Practices/Processes, and Product) as a heuristic for better understanding the complexities of leadership. Using The 5Ps Leadership Analysis, the authors explore the leadership of General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and General George B. McClellan of the Union Army of the Potomac—more specifically, the leadership of the two generals on September 17, 1862 during the Battle of Antietam. The paper concludes with suggestions for application in the classroom.
Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister, who governed the country from 1959 to 1990, passed away on 23 March 2015 at the age of 91. The purpose of this paper is to assess…
Abstract
Purpose
Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister, who governed the country from 1959 to 1990, passed away on 23 March 2015 at the age of 91. The purpose of this paper is to assess his legacy of good governance in Singapore.
Design/methodology/approach
The changes in Singapore’s policy context during 1959-2014 are described first before analyzing Lee’s legacy of good governance in Singapore by examining his books and major speeches.
Findings
Lee Kuan Yew’s commitment to meritocracy, empowerment of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau to curb corruption effectively, reliance on competitive salaries to attract the “best and brightest” citizens to join the civil service, and maintenance of the rule of law, constitute his legacy of good governance in Singapore.
Originality/value
This paper will be useful to policy-makers, scholars and readers who are interested in learning about Lee Kuan Yew’s contribution to good governance in Singapore.
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The aim of this paper is to show that there are workable alternatives to the debt‐finance system in the form of “state credit.”
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to show that there are workable alternatives to the debt‐finance system in the form of “state credit.”
Design/methodology/approach
The example used for the practical application of “state credit” is the State Housing programme of the 1935 New Zealand Labour Government. The primary sources are mainly the pamphlets of John A. Lee, responsible for the State Housing and Labour finance policies.
Findings
The paper shows that “state credit” was used on a large‐scale for constructive purposes, which not only provided debt‐free funding for an enduring construction programme, but one that did so without accompanying inflation or other adverse consequences which are warned of by orthodox economists.
Research limitations/implications
The paper focuses on a single example of the use of state credit, albeit an important and large‐scale one.
Practical implications
State credit was used in a major way during the 1930s to overcome unemployment while constructing something lasting and of enduring social benefit. It is a method that can be reapplied in the present time at a period where debt is reaching crisis point from entire nations down to families and individual consumers; with the most common remedy suggested relief being “austerity” and welfare cuts.
Social implications
State credit is a means of achieving large‐scale public works, while reducing unemployment, and reducing taxes, rates and prices which generally incorporate into costs the servicing of debts. The social implications are wide‐ranging.
Originality/value
The 1935 State Housing programme had endured as part of an iconic New Zealand social experiment, but one of which the method of funding is now virtually unknown.
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Keith Hoskin and Richard Macve
In a 1977 publication Alfred Chandler singled out the Springfield Armoryas the site where single‐unit management was pioneered in the UnitedStates, crediting Superintendent…
Abstract
In a 1977 publication Alfred Chandler singled out the Springfield Armory as the site where single‐unit management was pioneered in the United States, crediting Superintendent Roswell Lee (1815‐1833) with establishing a first “managerial” approach to work discipline and labour accounting. However, as economic breakthrough came only in 1841/2, it has since been argued that Lee′s role has been overestimated. Re‐examines archival evidence to show that: the changes of 1842 at Springfield were not due to external economic pressures, but to pressure exerted by West Point graduates in the Ordnance Department; Lee, as the dominant arms manufacturer in the 1820s, was not “held back” by economic factors from implementing any changes he desired; and his system of work organization was never even potentially managerial, with his accounting system in particular having been fundamentally misinterpreted. The evidence reinforces the case for viewing the invention of modern business and managerialism as primarily a disciplinary breakthrough.
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In the face of the erosion of democracy and the reemergence of authoritarian styles of rule and leadership in the contemporary world scene, the author reintroduces the…
Abstract
In the face of the erosion of democracy and the reemergence of authoritarian styles of rule and leadership in the contemporary world scene, the author reintroduces the anthropological and pedagogical insights of Dorothy Lee and Paulo Freire in the ongoing debate on active learning and higher education. In the case of Dorothy Lee, these insights refer to “valuing the self” of the student, and to the value of learning (values) from “remote cultures” and, last but not least, on the meaning of freedom and autonomy bounded by culture and structure in the teaching–learning process. In the case of Freire, the author selectively points to: (1) the value of community as a sociocultural anchor of identity, freedom, and autonomy, (2) the view of education as a tool for raising awareness, critical thinking, inspiration, hope, empowerment, cultural action, and social transformation, and (3) the view on citizenship education. The author discusses, in this regard, the significant role assigned by Dorothy Lee and Paulo Freire to the neglected notions of dialogue, freedom, culture, self, autonomy, and structure. Lastly, the author argues in favor of reincorporating the pedagogical insights of Dorothy Lee and Paulo Freire in the curricula and structure of higher education and also reminds those concerned with upholding democracy that these formative values and concepts were acknowledged in the early conception and development of active learning.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the individual and joint effects of the two design dimensions, form design and functional design, and moderating role of product…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the individual and joint effects of the two design dimensions, form design and functional design, and moderating role of product innovativeness and technological sophistication in consumer’s evaluation of new products. Employing theoretical underpinnings from categorization theory, this paper investigates two major research questions. First, what type of form is more advantageous for a radically new product or an incrementally new product? Second, is there an individual difference in consumer evaluations to innovative products with various form designs?
Design/methodology/approach
One pre-test and three between-subject experiments were performed. In Experiments 1 and 2, a two-way between-group ANOVA analysis was performed to examine the effect of form and the degree of technological innovation on attitude toward the product using different product categories (car and camera). In Experiment 3, a three-way between-group ANOVA analysis was performed to explore the impact of form, the degree of technological innovation and consumer technological sophistication on attitude toward the product.
Findings
The results from the three experiments conducted demonstrate that, first, whereas the form design for incremental innovations must be closer to the incumbent products for favorable evaluations, less typical form is evaluated as good as a more typical form for radical innovations. Second, form design of an innovative product matters more to the technologically more sophisticated consumers (experts).
Originality/value
This paper extends the previous design literature and fills the gap of under-researched area by demonstrating that individual difference, technological sophistication, moderates the design effect on consumer evaluation of innovation; providing boundary condition of when the atypical form is not penalized in spite of consumer’s perceived learning cost; examining how the form and function interplay in “high-status product”; and demonstrating how to strengthen the reliability and validity by replicating the study. Managerially, this paper demonstrates that innovating firms can influence the perceived value of new products using form and functionality, and marketing managers who launch really new products have strategic freedom of choosing own product design.
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Albert Lee and Robin Man-biu Cheung
The purpose of this paper is to analyze how professional cultures in schools and school systems could improve the well-being of students, with a particular emphasis on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze how professional cultures in schools and school systems could improve the well-being of students, with a particular emphasis on teacher-health partnerships, which would not naturally occur without a specific intentional intervention. Implemented with a whole-school approach, the Health Promoting School (HPS) is one of the most effective intentional interventions to achieve improvements in both the health and educational outcomes of students through the engagement of key stakeholders in education and health to create a healthy physical/psycho-social environment. This paper emphasizes collaboration and the building of professional cultures in schools that share collective responsibility for the whole student.
Design/methodology/approach
Student outcomes in schools should include both academic and health and well-being outcomes that promote positive pathways throughout adulthood. This paper connects HPS research with policy analysis drawing on Hong Kong’s unique context as being at the top of the PISA rankings and striving toward a positive health culture and well-being in its schools.
Findings
Evidence has been gathered extensively about what schools actually do in health promotion using the HPS framework. The HPS framework has served to assist schools and authorities to concentrate on the gaps and affirm best practices. This paper also reports how teachers have created a professional and collegial community with health partners to address outbreaks of infectious diseases in schools and obesity in students.
Practical implications
The concept of HPS can serve as an ecological model to promote the positive health and well-being of students, fostering their personal growth and development, and as an alternate model for school improvement.
Social implications
This paper has highlighted that structured school health programs such as HPS could have positive effects on educational outcomes, while also changing professional cultures and communities in schools with an emphasis on students’ physical health, emotional health, social health, or spiritual health. The Assessment Program for Affective and Social Outcomes is used as a tool by schools in Hong Kong, reflecting the affective and social developments of the students in the school under review as a whole, and how they relate to the school. It resembles the core areas of action competencies, and school social environment; the two key areas of HPS.
Originality/value
Hong Kong is often analyzed from an educational rankings perspective. However, it offers broader lessons on educational change, as it has in recent years emphasized dual goals in student outcomes and professional communities – the importance of whole student health and well-being as a both a precursor and key component to the educational outcomes schools seek. Globally, very few schools are able to implement HPS in its entirety. Continuing development of HPS in Hong Kong would add value to international literature in terms of which types of data would influence adoption of HPS in which types of school and policy contexts.