The purpose of the paper is to share best practices from global logistics leader, UPS, for approach overhauling a company's global training, leadership development and succession…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to share best practices from global logistics leader, UPS, for approach overhauling a company's global training, leadership development and succession planning practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Told from the vantage point of Anne Schwartz, UPS's vice president of global learning and development, the case study shows how UPS's internal research of focus groups and surveys revealed that the company's current training and leadership development programs needed to evolve to ensure success in today's global business environment.
Findings
The company acted on its internal research by retooling its leadership development and training programs to foster more strategically minded leaders; better engage younger generations; and make certain its people are “fluent” with UPS's vast global network.
Practical implications
UPS shares several practical takeaways for other international companies that are also looking to overhaul their leadership development and training programs. Sample takeaways include: align your training with your business strategy; start where you are and keep what works; and assess group and individual strengths and weaknesses.
Originality/value
As companies emerge from the recent economic downturn, the paper demonstrates that UPS maintains that now is the time to take a hard look at training and leadership development programs that impact workforces to ensure that businesses are positioned for long‐term, global growth.
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This paper aims to describe how global logistics provider UPS overhauled global training, leadership development and succession planning.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe how global logistics provider UPS overhauled global training, leadership development and succession planning.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reveals how UPS's internal research revealed that the company's current training and leadership‐development programs needed to evolve to ensure success in the modern global business environment.
Findings
The paper explains that the company acted on its internal research by retooling its leadership‐development and training programs to: foster more strategically minded leaders; better engage younger generations; and make certain that its people are “fluent” with UPS's vast global network.
Practical implications
The paper shares several practical lessons for other companies that are looking to overhaul their leadership‐development and training programs, including: align your training with your business strategy; start where you are and keep what works; and assess group and individual strengths and weaknesses.
Social implications
The paper contains some interesting observations about the most effective methods of training “millennials” – the young people born between 1980 and 2000 who make up an increasing proportion of the modern workforce.
Originality/value
The paper argues that now is the time to take a hard look at training and leadership‐development programs, to ensure that businesses are positioned for long‐term, global growth.
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DONALD R. WELLS and L.S. SCRUGGS
Professor Richard Timberlake (1984) recently suggested that the Federal Reserve System (Fed) was made unnecessary by the clearinghouse loan certificate (CLOC). This paper presents…
Abstract
Professor Richard Timberlake (1984) recently suggested that the Federal Reserve System (Fed) was made unnecessary by the clearinghouse loan certificate (CLOC). This paper presents evidence that the Fed was rendered unnecessary by Aldrich‐Vreeland Act Currency (AVAC).
Siew Imm Ng, Julie Anne Lee and Geoffrey N. Soutar
The purpose of this study is to propose an alternative basis for calculating cultural distance scores using Schwartz's cultural values.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to propose an alternative basis for calculating cultural distance scores using Schwartz's cultural values.
Design/methodology/approach
Cultural distance scores were calculated for 23 countries, based on the two most common measures of cultural difference (four cultural dimensions and Schwartz's 1994 culture level values), following Kogut and Singh's formula. Correlation analysis was used to assess the congruency between these two bases of cultural distance. In addition, their relationship with international trade figures was assessed, to understand how well each framework predicts the amount of trade between countries.
Findings
Inter‐country distances between 23 countries suggest that the two bases of cultural distance were not congruent. While the correlation between both cultural distance measures and international trade suggested a negative relationship, as expected, only cultural distance based on Schwartz's values was significantly related to international trade (p<0.05). It would appear that, at least in a trade context, Schwartz's values may play a more significant role than do Hofstede's dimensions.
Originality/value
To date, most cultural distance scores have been based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions. This paper provides the first analysis of cultural distance based on Schwartz's country level values. The paper shows that the two measures are not congruent and that, at least in the context of trade, cultural distance measures based on Schwartz's may be superior. Thus, researchers should carefully consider which cultural base is most appropriate for use in their study.
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While much of the existing research regarding moral exemplarity has focused on living individuals, examination of the lives of historical figures can also prove invaluable in…
Abstract
While much of the existing research regarding moral exemplarity has focused on living individuals, examination of the lives of historical figures can also prove invaluable in understanding moral motivation. Consequently, this paper sought to apply Frimer and Walker’s (2009) reconciliation model and methodology in examining themes of agency and communion in the motivation of Miep Gies. Frimer and Walker’s (2009) Self-Understanding Interview and the VEiN coding method (Frimer, Walker, & Dunlop, 2009) served as guides for examining published and audio-recorded interviews, biographical and autobiographical information, as well as video-recorded speeches given by Gies. Aspects of an integrated moral identity appeared evident in the personality of Miep Gies as indicated in statements reflecting an overlap of both agency and communion. The study was limited in its reliance on publically available documents about or by Gies. Further, reliance on these documents, as opposed to a “live” interview, limited the ability of the author to identify responses to all questions included in Frimer and Walker’s (2009) interview or fully utilize the VEiN coding method (Frimer et al., 2009). Exploration of life narratives of historical figures can provide insight into an integrated moral identity as well as examples of developmental crossroads Frimer and Walker (2009) cited as essential in their reconciliation model. Comprehension of this reconciliation process is critical to understanding what lies at the heart of moral motivation and action as well as the ability to promote such growth in the lives of others.
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Bruce R. Borquist and Anne de Bruin
This paper aims to identify and categorise the values expressed in women-led social entrepreneurship based on a typology of universal values. It explores the influence of gender…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify and categorise the values expressed in women-led social entrepreneurship based on a typology of universal values. It explores the influence of gender and religious faith on the values that inspire social entrepreneurial organisations to engage in positive social change.
Design/methodology/approach
Inductive multiple case study research investigates the values manifest in five social entrepreneurial organisations founded and led by women in three Southeast Asian countries.
Findings
Organisations and their women-leaders express values related to benevolence, universalism, self-direction and security. Gender and religious faith are found to be mediators that influence approaches to social transformation.
Research limitations/implications
Purposive sampling and interpretive research design favour rich description but limit the generalisability of the findings. Further enquiry is needed into the gender-values-religion nexus in social entrepreneurship.
Practical implications
Social entrepreneurship is shown to be a process embedded in and motivated by prosocial values of benevolence and social justice and other values of self-direction and security. Findings provide evidence for the critical but often overlooked influence of gender and religious faith on the values foundation of social entrepreneurship.
Social implications
Social entrepreneurial organisations led by women contribute to positive social change through the values they incorporate and express.
Originality/value
Research on the link between gender, values and religious faith in social entrepreneurship is virtually non-existent.
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Timothy M. Daly, Julie Anne Lee, Geoffrey N. Soutar and Sarah Rasmi
This study aims to develop and validate a best‐worst scaling (BWS) measure of preferred conflict‐handling styles, named the Conflict‐handling BWS (CHBWS).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop and validate a best‐worst scaling (BWS) measure of preferred conflict‐handling styles, named the Conflict‐handling BWS (CHBWS).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted three studies. Study 1 consisted of a sample of psychology students (n=136) from a Canadian university and was designed to assess the convergent validity of the CHBWS by comparing it with the ROCI‐II and DUTCH instruments. Study 2 consisted of a sample of psychology students (n=154) from a US university and was designed to assess the predictive validity of the CHBWS by relating conflict‐handling styles to consumer complaint behavior. Study 3 consisted of a random sample of adults registered with an online survey company in Australia (n=204) and Germany (n=214). This study was designed to assess the antecedent relationship of Schwartz's personal values to conflict‐handling styles.
Findings
The study shows that best‐worst scaling is a valid and advantageous way of measuring conflict‐handling styles. The CHBWS demonstrated both convergent and predictive validity, and was able to reproduce the structure of the dual‐concerns model. The study also showed that preferred conflict‐handling style influences the choice of complaint behavior in a retail service failure situation. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that Schwartz's personal values can influence the preferred conflict‐handling style in two individualistic cultures.
Originality/value
This is the first study to measure conflict‐handling style preferences using a BWS approach. Furthermore, it is the first study to relate consumer complaint behavior to preferred conflict‐handling style.
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John H. Bickford III and Katherine A. Silva
State and national initiatives provide teachers opportunities for interdisciplinary units with increased significance of non-fiction in English Language Arts and decreased…
Abstract
State and national initiatives provide teachers opportunities for interdisciplinary units with increased significance of non-fiction in English Language Arts and decreased reliance on the textbook in history and social studies. In these three disciplines, beginning in elementary school, students are expected to scrutinize multiple trade books of the same event, era, or person to construct understandings. Trade books are a logical curricular link between these three curricula. The initiatives, however, do not prescribe specific curricular materials; teachers rely on their own discretion when selecting available trade books. Historical misrepresentations have been found to emerge within trade books to varying degrees, yet only a few empirical studies have been conducted. We empirically evaluated trade books centered on the Anne Sullivan Macy, Helen Keller’s teacher. Celebrated as the Miracle Worker, she remains a relatively obscure figure. As a child, Macy faced the desertion or death of every family member and struggled to overcome poverty and isolation. Macy’s story, thus, complements Keller’s in consequential ways. We report various historical misrepresentations within the trade books and provide ancillary primary sources for teachers interested in addressing the historical omissions.
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Anne Swenson Ticknor and Paige Averett
The purpose of this paper is to provide an emic view of how one researcher negotiated complex relationships in teacher education research and learned to employ the principles of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an emic view of how one researcher negotiated complex relationships in teacher education research and learned to employ the principles of the relational cultural theory (RCT) to create a research design aimed at building and sustaining relationships with participants.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors offer illustrative qualitative data examples from teacher education research to highlight complexities in research relationships, essential elements of the RCT, and the affordances RCT can offer qualitative researchers invested in similar work.
Findings
By engaging pre-service teachers and ourselves as mutually engaged in this process, the authors put into practice a sense of community and relationship building the authors hope pre-service teachers will practice with their future students.
Research limitations/implications
This paper provides a qualitative research design employing tenets of the RCT which centers relationships as critical to the research process. The authors offer affordances and limitations to using the RCT in research.
Practical implications
Several affordances are offered to researchers interested in engaging in similar work.
Originality/value
This paper offers an original perspective of how one researcher in teacher education negotiated complex relationships and learned to employ the principles of the RCT within these to build a research design aimed at widening research and practice in teacher education through productive and lasting relationships.