The paper reports an investigation of the premise that modern HRM practices ‐ used to encourage and motivate the workforce of an organisation ‐ can be extended to the peripheral…
Abstract
The paper reports an investigation of the premise that modern HRM practices ‐ used to encourage and motivate the workforce of an organisation ‐ can be extended to the peripheral workforce of contractors and agency staff. Literature review of HRM identified Communications, Teamworking, Training and Performance Management as suitable topics for consideration. Under these headings the project investigated the views of peripheral workers and their supervising managers within a facilities management environment. The data reveal a highly positive response to the topics with a significant degree of consistency across all groups of respondents. All categories attracted high scores with Teamworking coming out as the most favoured. The creation of genuine teams across contractual interfaces is highlighted as a means to significant enhancement of service provision.
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Philip H. Mirvis and Mitchell Lee Marks
We review our work as collaborators over nearly 40 years as researchers and OD practitioners on the human, cultural, and organizational aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A)…
Abstract
We review our work as collaborators over nearly 40 years as researchers and OD practitioners on the human, cultural, and organizational aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). This chapter addresses (1) how our thinking, research methods, and practices developed over time, (2) accounts of deriving theory from practice and contrariwise of applying theory to practical matters, (3) how our respective shifts from academe toward scholarly-practice influenced our thinking and how we write, and (4) varieties of scholarly collaboration – ranging from intensive interchange to sequential pitch and catch. Early work covers a study of a “white-knight” acquisition and then advising on post-merger integration in a hostile takeover, revealing the stages of a deal, dynamics of buyers and sellers, and human factors that produce the “merger syndrome.”
Throughout we talk about confronting challenges of the scholar-practitioner divide as it pertains to role definition and boundary management as well to our theorizing, writing, and publication agenda. The chapter concludes with reflections on doing applied research in collaboration with a colleague (and friend).
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Dave Hearn, David Ndegwa, Philip Norman, Natalie Hammond and Eddie Chaplin
Leave is an important part of life for both patients and clinicians in secure mental health and learning disability settings. Patients breaching leave conditions (i.e. absconding…
Abstract
Purpose
Leave is an important part of life for both patients and clinicians in secure mental health and learning disability settings. Patients breaching leave conditions (i.e. absconding or failing to return) represent a small percentage of leave episodes; however when incidents occur there can be far reaching negative outcomes for potential victims, the patient and the service. The purpose of this paper is to devise a risk assessment specifically for leave decision making based on the literature available.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the approach followed in the violence risk assessment field, a literature review was carried out of papers relating to absconding. The results were used to develop the leave/abscond risk assessment (LARA).
Findings
There are a number of problems with the available literature: there is a dearth of research, definitions for absconding are varied (often including escape) making comparisons difficult and much of the literature focuses on psychiatric acute wards making it difficult to translate into secure environments. Characteristics of absconders vary and are not idiosyncratic enough from which to develop a risk assessment. Socio‐environmental factors are perhaps more important and so the LARA was devised around assessment of these.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations of this paper are clear: a risk assessment tool is proposed that has not been evaluated or validated in any way. The authors feel that the process warrants publication and invite readers to use the tool for clinical and/or research purposes.
Originality/value
The LARA is proposed as a specific leave‐decision‐making risk assessment tool for teams working in secure environments.
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Glenna G. Bower and Dave Enzler
The purpose of this study is to examine a Midwest university in North America over a one‐year period on current smoking policies and programs, student support for implementing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine a Midwest university in North America over a one‐year period on current smoking policies and programs, student support for implementing additional smoking policies, and to produce a follow‐up report on supporting policies that were approved by administration.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers used a convenience sample from a four‐year public university located in the Midwestern USA. A four‐year public university is a publicly funded institution of higher learning awarding baccalaureate, Master's and doctoral degrees. Data were collected from administrators (n=6) and on Assessment Day of all freshmen (n=1,743) and juniors (n=643) at the university. Data were collected through document mining, a survey instrument, interviewing, and observation. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize frequency data for this study.
Findings
The data produced some interesting findings. First, the study provided college administrators with a model to follow in moving forward in developing policies for their students, faculty and staff. Second, the study offered support for implementing practical policies which may save the universities money, while protecting students, faculty, and staff from harmful environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Finally, the study addresses the need of the university to implement and enforce policies on campus that will embrace tobacco control.
Research implications
The implications of this study are that other universities may utilize the steps involved in this study to move forward in developing policies for their employees, universities may utilize this information by stressing that students are less likely to begin smoking if the university or campus offers smoke‐free resident halls and apartments, and fire safety is increased by banning smoking in resident halls and apartments.
Originality/value
Embraces more comprehensively than previously the situation, treatment and future research regarding smoking among college students in the USA.
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The purpose of this paper is to assess the issues raised by and the possible long-term significance of the judicial review obtained by the pressure group UK Uncut into HM Revenue…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the issues raised by and the possible long-term significance of the judicial review obtained by the pressure group UK Uncut into HM Revenue and Customs’ decision to forgive £10 m of interest payable by the investment bank, Goldman Sachs.
Design/methodology/approach
Using Lukes’ (2005) three dimensions of power as a conceptual framework, the paper compares this case with a similar case from the 1980s in order to discuss the importance of democratic oversight of the way in which public bodies discharge their duties, the extent to which this should override the principle of taxpayer confidentiality and the extent to which legal rules and procedures permit such oversight.
Findings
The comparison shows that, by permitting the review to proceed, greater weight was given to the importance of democratic oversight in the UK Uncut's case, but the rejection of both cases demonstrates that the tax authority is permitted very wide administrative discretion. However, whilst UK Uncut's challenge ultimately failed, it exposed aspects of the tax authority's relationship with large taxpayers to public gaze. This has contributed to demands for changes in the taxation system, which legislators might eventually feel forced to heed.
Originality/value
This paper reminds that any significant shift in public attitudes must always have a beginning, and that, even if the challenge fails, it might be the first tangible evidence of a demand for greater transparency in the administration of the tax system which might lead to future changes.
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Frederick A. Starke, Gita Sharma, Michael K. Mauws, Bruno Dyck and Parshotam Dass
The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of transformational organizational change that occurred over time in a small manufacturing firm using the conceptual framework…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of transformational organizational change that occurred over time in a small manufacturing firm using the conceptual framework of organizational change and archetypes.
Design/methodology/approach
This longitudinal study – which is based on six cycles of interviews with all members of the firm over a two‐year period – examined how the change attempt was perceived by the strategic leadership, middle‐level managers, and lower‐level employees.
Findings
The findings suggest that the pace of archetypal change is influenced by organization members' experience with, and capacity to, assimilate the change; that, sequentially, new structures and systems are implemented prior to new interpretive schemes; and that unresolved excursions are non‐linear. These findings question the conventional wisdom about the importance of leadership in sustaining organizational transformation. Most notably, it was found that most of the archetypal change occurred after the initiating change agent (a new CEO) had left the firm and been replaced by the previous CEO who did not support the proposed changes.
Originality/value
The paper offers the first longitudinal study to examine the issue of substitutes for strategic leadership. In addition to two new substitutes that should be considered at this level of analysis – information systems and interpretive schemes – the data also point to the impact of collective action by mid‐level supervisors and employees.
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As CD‐ROM becomes more and more a standard reference and technicalsupport tool in all types of libraries, the annual review of thistechnology published in Computers in Libraries…
Abstract
As CD‐ROM becomes more and more a standard reference and technical support tool in all types of libraries, the annual review of this technology published in Computers in Libraries magazine increases in size and scope. This year, author Susan L. Adkins has prepared this exceptionally useful bibliography which she has cross‐referenced with a subject index.