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Article
Publication date: 1 March 2005

Charles F. Abel

While mainstream organization theory has contributed to making organizations a productive part of society, they have simultaneously contributed to the creation of a “dark side” of…

1022

Abstract

While mainstream organization theory has contributed to making organizations a productive part of society, they have simultaneously contributed to the creation of a “dark side” of organizational existence that stifles the individual, frustrates the attainment of desired social ends and distorts many core values of democratic societies. Mainstream theory recognizes this “dark side,” but has been unsuccessful at suggesting how it might be ameliorated or avoided. The writings of Foucault, however, reveal not only how the “dark side” arises but also how it might be avoided so that organizations may develop and pursue interests in common with both society and the individual.

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International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1093-4537

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 2010

C. F. Abel

A well-known scientist once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast…

35

Abstract

A well-known scientist once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: “What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.” The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, “What is the tortoise standing on?” “You’re very clever, young man,” said the old lady. “But it’s turtles all the way down!”

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International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1093-4537

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Article
Publication date: 1 June 2005

Charles F. Abel and Arthur J. Sementelli

Aims to consider what the best metaphor or set of metaphors might be in the organizational change process.

3854

Abstract

Purpose

Aims to consider what the best metaphor or set of metaphors might be in the organizational change process.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual discussion and approach are taken.

Findings

Metaphors have proven to be highly effective aids to understanding the circumstances, clarifying the direction and resolving the problems of organizational change. However, despite their efficacy, there is much debate over what the best metaphor or set of metaphors might be. This paper argues that this uncertainty is resolved by employing Veblen's metaphor of “endogenous evolution”, and that this claim is supported by current studies of organizational change.

Originality/value

The paper is of value to management professionals in helping to develop skills for facing the onset of, and consequences of, the processes of organizational change.

Details

Journal of Management Development, vol. 24 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0262-1711

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Article
Publication date: 4 September 2007

Arthur J. Sementelli and Charles F. Abel

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how mechanistic and organic metaphors might be fused through the application of cultural imagery.

2777

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how mechanistic and organic metaphors might be fused through the application of cultural imagery.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is a theoretical examination of metaphor and its application in public organizations. Specifically, this paper examines the possibility that images from popular culture might offer some insights. Selected metaphors linked by elective methodological affinities are examined in order to determine potential significance of the Robocop metaphor for guiding research in organizations.

Findings

The popular culture image Robocop from 1980s films can help us detect what is not being included in most theoretical analyses of public organizations, while simultaneously helping us to purge the negative connotations of the Robocop image.

Research limitations/implications

The popular culture image can help us to understand change in public organizations.

Originality/value

It is one of the few, if any, papers using popular culture images to bridge metaphor and imagery in the study of organizational change.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 20 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 2011

C. F. Abel

Against the various literatures asserting that myths serve administrators well in varying ways, this paper takes a decidedly skeptical stance. While myth is a tool that may be…

33

Abstract

Against the various literatures asserting that myths serve administrators well in varying ways, this paper takes a decidedly skeptical stance. While myth is a tool that may be well or poorly used, its use to fashion administrative theory, or to construct an administrative order, or to enhance administrative thought is most often a poor use indeed. What serves Public Administration best involves the much more difficult effort of constructing theories of historical causation that derive directly from the experiences that practitioners have with the problems they find it necessary or desirable to solve.

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International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1093-4537

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Article
Publication date: 1 November 1899

What proof have the public, independent of the assertions of the makers, that all the firms whose products are sold indifferently by the shopkeepers use only the best materials;…

78

Abstract

What proof have the public, independent of the assertions of the makers, that all the firms whose products are sold indifferently by the shopkeepers use only the best materials; or, indeed, that a large number of the articles sold are not mixtures more or less objectionable or fraudulent ? This, in effect, is the question put by a writer in a West of England newspaper, and it might be used as a text upon which to write a lengthy homily on the adulteration question and on the astonishing gullibility of the public. As a matter of fact the only evidence of the character and quality of food and other products, in regard to which there is no independent guarantee, is that which is afforded by the standing of the makers, and to some extent of the firms which offer them for sale. And this evidence cannot, under any circumstances, be looked upon as constituting proof. The startling allegations so commonly put forward by advertisers with respect to their wares, while they may be ineffective in so far as thinking people are concerned, must nevertheless be found pecuniarily advantageous since the expense involved in placing them under the eyes of the public would otherwise hardly be incurred. Many of these advertised allegations are, of course, entirely unjustifiable, or are incapable of proof. It may be hoped that the lavish manner in which they are set out, and their very extravagance, may, in time, result in producing a general effect not contemplated by the advertisers. In the meantime it cannot be too often pointed out that proof, such as that which is required for the satisfaction of the retailer and for the protection of the public, can only be obtained by the exercise of an independent control, and, in certain cases, by the maintenance of efficient independent inspection in addition, so that a guarantee of a character entirely different to that which may be offered, even by a firm of the highest eminence, may be supplied.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 1 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 2011

C. F. Abel

23

Abstract

Details

International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1093-4537

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Article
Publication date: 1 August 1901

One of the commonest excuses put forward in defence of the practice of treating milk, butter, meat, and other foods with ‘preservative’ drugs no longer possesses even the…

54

Abstract

One of the commonest excuses put forward in defence of the practice of treating milk, butter, meat, and other foods with ‘preservative’ drugs no longer possesses even the appearance of validity. Several of the large railway companies are adding refrigerator vans in considerable numbers to their rolling‐stock, and this fact should make it no longer possible for defendants to plead that the necessity of sending food‐products a long distance by rail involves the necessity of mixing preservative chemicals with them. Although the excuse referred to will not bear examination, it is a very specious one, and in those instances where evidence has not been brought forward to refute it, it has produced some effect on the minds of magistrates and others. It cannot be too often pointed out that such substances as boracic acid, salicylic acid, and formaldehyde are dangerous drugs, and that their unacknowledged presence in articles of food constitutes a serious danger to the public. Such substances are not foods, and are not natural constituents of any food. In most instances they are purposely introduced into food‐products to avoid the expense attending the proper production, preparation, and distribution of the food, or to conceal the inferior quality of an article by masking the signs of commencing decomposition or incipient putrefaction, and thus to enable a dishonest producer or vendor to palm off as fresh and wholesome an article which may be not only of bad quality, but absolutely dangerous to the consumer. The use of these substances, in any quantity whatsoever, and the sale of articles containing them, without the fullest and clearest disclosure of their presence, is as gross and as dangerous a form of adulteration as any which has at any time been exposed. In no single instance can it be shown that these drugs are, to quote the words of the Act of 1875, matters or ingredients “required for the preparation or production of a food as an article of commerce,” nor, of course, can it be contended that such substances are “extraneous matters with which the food is unavoidably mixed during the process of collection or preparation.” In reality, even under our inadequate and unsatisfactory adulteration laws, through which the proverbial coach‐and‐four can be so easily driven in so many directions, there ought to be no loophole of escape for the deliberate and dishonest drugger of foods. While the presence of preservative chemicals in any quantity whatever in articles of food constitutes adulteration, wherever the quantity is sufficient to allow the production of the specific “preservative” effect of the substance added, that fact alone is enough to make the food so drugged a food which must be regarded as injurious to the health of the consumer—in view of the inhibitory effect which, by its very nature, the antiseptic must produce on the process of digestion. To our knowledge the food market in this country is flooded with all sorts of inferior food‐products which are rarely dealt with under the Adulteration Acts, and which are loaded with so‐called preservatives. There will be no adequate protection for the public against the consumption of this injurious rubbish until the consumer sees the advantage of insisting upon an authoritative and permanent guarantee of quality with his goods, and until manufacturers of the better class at length find it to be a necessity for their continued prosperity that they should supply, apart entirely from their own statements, an independent and powerful guarantee of this kind.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 3 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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Article
Publication date: 1 May 1983

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of…

16774

Abstract

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 21 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 2010

Hans J. Hacker

While liberals agree that the best society is one that supports the equal exercise of personal liberty, there is little agreement among them on what policies best achieve this…

54

Abstract

While liberals agree that the best society is one that supports the equal exercise of personal liberty, there is little agreement among them on what policies best achieve this end. Conflicts within liberalism over the place of socially derived goals vis-à-vis personal liberty and autonomy create tension and skew public discourse on policy alternatives. In this article, I characterize the debate among dominant strands of liberal ideology and consider the effort of Charles Taylor to resolve these tensions. Finding his resolution unsatisfying, I explore the alternative conception offered by American pragmatism. I argue that liberal theories fail because they fall prey to the problem of principles-they attempt to justify axiomatic thinking rather than perpetuate society and culture. Pragmatism provides a justification for liberal public discourse as the best mechanism for constructing, evaluating and revising policies that support cultural adaptation to social, economic and technological contingencies.

Details

International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1093-4537

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