Old timers in the contract cleaning industry have traditionally told commercial building owners that they are likely to spend, each year, an amount equivalent to around…
Abstract
Old timers in the contract cleaning industry have traditionally told commercial building owners that they are likely to spend, each year, an amount equivalent to around one‐twentieth of their construction costs on cleaning. If this was ever true, it is no more; if it was an analogy to boost the importance of what is generally a non‐considered industry, it was a perverse misrepresentation. In fact, contractors can today clean most new office buildings for an annual charge of no more than half of one per cent of the capital cost. Contracted‐out cleaning is one of the great unrecognised bargains of commercial life in the UK today.
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…
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
Keywords
Many commentators believe that we are racing into the age of Information Technology (IT). If in most cases the reality lags some way behind the image, it nevertheless remains the…
Abstract
Many commentators believe that we are racing into the age of Information Technology (IT). If in most cases the reality lags some way behind the image, it nevertheless remains the case that organisations are increasingly investing in, or considering investing in, a wide range of new high technologies. In manufacturing firms, for example, computerised numerically controlled machine tools are in widespread application, and robots, flexible manufacturing systems and computer‐aided design are no longer rare. A similar picture emerges with regard to office‐based technologies, such as management information and word processing systems, and within service‐oriented organisations where innovations include, for example, Electronic Point Of Sale (EPOS) in retailing and direct debit and credit transfer in banking.
Chris Warren‐Adamson and Anita Lightburn
This article reflects on the significance of family centres in the UK as a mirror of new possibilities for child welfare in the years following the Children Act 1989. The Act…
Abstract
This article reflects on the significance of family centres in the UK as a mirror of new possibilities for child welfare in the years following the Children Act 1989. The Act empowered local authorities in England and Wales to provide family centres as part of ‘family support practice’. The article reveals a rich vein of family‐centred, centre‐based activity internationally and shows practice combining intervention from the sophisticated to the very informal. The authors focus on so‐called ‘integrated centres’ as complex systems of care with wide implications for practice and outcome evaluation in an ‘evidence‐based’ context.
Details
Keywords
Nirupa Padia and Chris William Callaghan
In the wake of certain corporate scandals, many stakeholders are questioning if current high levels of executive remuneration, world-wide, are in fact related to company…
Abstract
Purpose
In the wake of certain corporate scandals, many stakeholders are questioning if current high levels of executive remuneration, world-wide, are in fact related to company performance. After the implementation of King III in 2010, there has been an expectation that governance has improved in South African companies. If so, empirical testing should find executive remuneration to be positively related to forms of performance that reflect an increase in company value, like Tobin's Q, or return on assets, rather than measures such as total revenue.
Design/methodology/approach
Agency theory predicts that if executive remuneration is not carefully designed to maximise the value of the company, executive directors will tend to maximise revenue instead. To test this prediction, hand-collected panel data from Johannesburg Stock Exchange company reports are linked to company performance data to test this prediction, across the years 2010–2017, post King III.
Findings
Results challenge certain important assumptions. Generalised method of moments tests find total revenue, rather than value added measures of performance such as Tobin's Q or return on assets, to predict executive director remuneration. This is notwithstanding the significance of Tobin's Q in testing based on ordinary least squares. Implications of these findings for the field are derived and discussed.
Originality/value
Unique findings suggest that complacency about the relationships between executive director compensation and company performance is unwarranted. In light of a decline in the country's international rankings on the quality of its corporate governance, a renewed focus on the effectiveness of human resource compensation strategy may be necessary in this context.
Details
Keywords
Chris Procter and Mark Kozak-Holland
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the contemporary relevance of the management of the Great Pyramid of Giza project.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the contemporary relevance of the management of the Great Pyramid of Giza project.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses evidence from the literature from many disciplines concerning both the objectives and construction of the pyramid. It relates this to recent discussion concerned with the issues faced in megaproject management, which are core to the discussion of success and failure.
Findings
The analysis shows the significance of the “break-fix model” of megaproject management and how having a sequence of megaprojects builds management through a learning process. It demonstrates the significance of innovation arising from the experience of previous projects in solving major technical challenges and illustrates the importance of the organisation and ethical management of a substantial workforce.
Research limitations/implications
There is very limited reliable documentary evidence from the time of the construction of Giza (c.2560 BCE). Many sources concerning ancient Egypt are still widely contested. However, the use of research from a combination of disciplines demonstrates the relevance of the project and the importance of learning from history to contemporary project management.
Originality/value
The authors believe that this is the first paper to analyse the Giza pyramid project from a project management perspective. This was arguably the most significant construction project of ancient history and the paper explains the lessons, which can be learned, which are very significant to today’s megaprojects.
Details
Keywords
Alexander Leitner, Walter Wehrmeyer and Chris France
This paper aims to review how current policy instruments drive (or not) environmental innovation and, by doing so, to reinvestigate the relationship between innovation and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review how current policy instruments drive (or not) environmental innovation and, by doing so, to reinvestigate the relationship between innovation and regulation.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive literature review on innovation and environmental regulation created a theoretical foundation of the paper. Using the grounded theory, a model was developed and evaluated using interviews. This is a timely topic as the new shape of recent environmental regulation appears to be fairly strict. A new model is presented to encapsulate highly dynamic interaction of environmental innovation and regulation to provide results that reflect on the present innovation behaviour and its implications.
Findings
The model highlights various diffusion pathways that are triggered by the main three drivers of innovation namely government (regulation), market (competition and cost) and technology which has the possibility of an autonomous diffusion.
Research limitations/implications
The empirical data are limited to 13 qualitative experts' interviews within industry, consultancies and governmental departments.
Practical implications
The suggested model is particularly useful for policy makers to better understand the innovation dynamics and its diffusion pathways to design smarter regulations that incentivise rather than force organisations to comply with regulation.
Originality/value
The paper shows how regulation drives (or not) innovation and how various diffusion pathways can be used by external stakeholders to direct and promote innovation.
Details
Keywords
John Kemp has been appointed to the newly created post of group marketing manager at the H R Smith Group of Companies, Street Court, Kingsland, Leominster, Hereford.
Chrystal S. Johnson and Chris McGrew
This article presents an ecologically informed approach for comprehending the nature of and perceived changes to the relationship between Indiana’s kindergarten-5 classrooms and…
Abstract
This article presents an ecologically informed approach for comprehending the nature of and perceived changes to the relationship between Indiana’s kindergarten-5 classrooms and public history institutions. This perspective offers a lens for understanding the degree to which public history institutions actualize social studies learning and how public policy currently influences their associations with kindergarten-5 classrooms. Consideration was given to how respondents reported exchanges with kindergarten-5 learners, elementary educators, and the extent to which state public history organizations encouraged schools to utilize their resources for extending social studies instruction outside of the classroom. Baseline data gathered in 2007 indicated that: (1) state public history organizations adapted their mission statements to better reflect federal and state educational policy and (2) federal and state educational policy were contributing to both children and teachers being left out of the museum experience. Based on the results, the authors call for sustained inquiry to ascertain the impact such changes are having on the status and quality of kindergarten-5 social studies instruction across the United States.
Details
Keywords
Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Earlier in 2007, Precision Marketing magazine announced its list of top client companies. And while First Direct knocked Tesco off the top spot for the first time in three years, a number of other banks such as MBNA and Lloyds TSB were named in the top brands in need of a direct makeover.
Practical implications
Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.