The Jason Bourne series of films (2002–2016) are widely acknowledged with helping to successfully re-invent the action thriller genre in the 2000s by focusing more on motivation…
Abstract
The Jason Bourne series of films (2002–2016) are widely acknowledged with helping to successfully re-invent the action thriller genre in the 2000s by focusing more on motivation and plot than over-the-top spectacle. Featuring a profoundly wounded son figure in the titular character, the films are indicative of an awareness of the vulnerabilities and reactions of a fatherless masculinity within a post-Cold War political reality.
This chapter will argue that Bourne's onscreen pain and subsequent violent responses to his various narrative predicaments are a result of being repeatedly betrayed by a series of older males, in many cases, father surrogates. Bourne's experience of this paternal disruption and betrayal is the key psychological motivating factor, with the films and the story arc of the character only being resolved when both he and the audience finally discover and reconcile the role that his biological father played in shaping his destiny and his life. This ‘father hunger’ – in effect a need for a continuative masculinity – that Jason Bourne experiences, and that is arguably at the heart of the franchise, will be analysed and explored within the contexts of post-Jungian screen theory. Alongside the deliberately casting of ‘quality’ actors (such as Brian Cox, Joan Allen, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn) and other formalist elements of the text, archetypal energies and symbolism are also rife throughout the film, and can be, in part, credited with the critical and commercial success of the films. Finally, the films are put in their cinematic context in terms of the influence they subsequently exerted on other action film franchises – particularly James Bond (1962 to present).
Details
Keywords
Jillian C. Sweeney and David A. Webb
This paper aims to extend previous research investigating the effect of relationship benefits on firm outcomes by developing a model that includes the effect on individual…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to extend previous research investigating the effect of relationship benefits on firm outcomes by developing a model that includes the effect on individual employees in the buyer firm. The model also aims to address benefits beyond the functional in business‐to business (B2B) settings by including psychological and social benefits.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a survey of 275 B2B buyers in Australian manufacturing firms.
Findings
The findings reveal that functional benefits enhance firm‐level commitment to the relationship, whereas psychological and social benefits affect individual commitment to the relationship directly and firm‐level commitment indirectly, thereby emphasizing the importance of considering the individual as distinct from the firm. Given that the relationship is a process over time, and in recognition of the non‐static nature of relationship benefits, the paper also explores the changes in benefits over relationship stages, including their impact on commitment. In contrast to expectations results show that while all three types of benefits increase, there is no change in the impact of all three benefit types on commitment across relationship stages.
Practical implications
The study recognizes that the individual in the firm also benefits from B2B relationships and offers a measure of both firm and individual relationship benefits for use in future studies. The measure may also be used as a point of discussion about relationship management.
Originality/value
The study is framed within social exchange theory and, is the first to simultaneously examine three types of relationship benefits and their interaction with both the individual and firm viewpoint. The study is also one of the first to empirically examine changes in relationships over the relationship stages.
Details
Keywords
Rosetta A. Morris Morant and David C. Jacobs
The purpose of this paper is to trace the historical foundation of the efficiency wage theory and examine its conceptual framework against other wage theories, in relation to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to trace the historical foundation of the efficiency wage theory and examine its conceptual framework against other wage theories, in relation to conventional practices in human resource management.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a description of various wage theories, a conceptual analysis maps the evolutionary process of efficiency wage theory.
Findings
The concept of efficiency being applied to wages appears to evolve from Smith. The difference between the classical and the institutionalists’ perspectives appears to be the meaning ascribed to efficiency. Clark seemed to be the first one to examine the relationship between labor and productivity. Webb expanded the meaning of efficiency and demonstrated the relationship with productivity. Institutional and behavioral theorists further developed and advocated for efficiency wages. A synthesis of recent empirical studies provides support for the theory, which challenges conventional human resource management wage practices.
Practical implications
The findings solidify the usefulness of efficiency wage theory not only as a motivational management tool but also as a source for social and economic well-being.
Originality/value
The contribution of this historical account is that it synthesizes the root and development of efficiency wages theory. It also highlights the social context of the theory and provides an interface between economic and management perspectives.
Details
Keywords
This paper has the aim of revisiting the works of Beatrice and Sidney Webb in the field of industrial relations and assessing their intellectual contributions to the study of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper has the aim of revisiting the works of Beatrice and Sidney Webb in the field of industrial relations and assessing their intellectual contributions to the study of the labour market, unions and collective bargaining in Britain.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper discusses the Webbs' studies of trade union history and union organisation, policy and methods that were first published at the end of the nineteenth century.
Findings
In refuting critiques of unions in the market economy by English classical and neo‐classical economists, and drawing on the ideas of the German school of historical economics, the Webbs incorporated organised labour into mainstream economic and political thought. Their major theoretical propositions were to set out an “agency model” of trade unions and an advanced system of democracy, in politics and at work, which unions would play a major part in promoting. In justifying the collectivisation of the employment relationship, the Webbs provided the intellectual foundations of the pluralist‐institutional model of industrial relations, which was built upon by other scholars following the end of the World War II. Their prediction that collective bargaining would decline in importance, as democracy matured, and be replaced by legal regulation, has taken place for reasons unforeseen by themselves.
Originality/value
The value of this paper is its reassessment of the Webbs' contribution to theory in the field and to the British collectivist tradition of industrial relations.
Details
Keywords
Jason Allan Bogardus, John Dibble and John David Garvin
The case was created via an interview of the protagonist.
Abstract
Research methodology
The case was created via an interview of the protagonist.
Case overview / synopsis
The case describes the dilemma a young leader, Captain Bryson, faces after a few months in his new organization. Amid a routine meeting, two of CPT Bryson’s direct reports get into a verbal (and nearly physical) altercation over a relatively benign issue. CPT Bryson must decide how to handle the conflict at that moment. Further, the organization is resource constrained, so the personnel will be working in the same organization for at least the next six months. Therefore, CPT Bryson must try to diagnose the types and sources of conflict so that he can decide on how to manage the conflict in both the short and long terms.
Complexity academic level
This case is designed for use in undergraduate and graduate level courses on leadership and management. The case is useful for teaching lessons (or electives) on conflict management, developmental communication (counseling), emotional intelligence and power and influence.
Details
Keywords
Alexandra L. Ferrentino, Meghan L. Maliga, Richard A. Bernardi and Susan M. Bosco
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in…
Abstract
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in business-ethics and accounting’s top-40 journals this study considers research in eight accounting-ethics and public-interest journals, as well as, 34 business-ethics journals. We analyzed the contents of our 42 journals for the 25-year period between 1991 through 2015. This research documents the continued growth (Bernardi & Bean, 2007) of accounting-ethics research in both accounting-ethics and business-ethics journals. We provide data on the top-10 ethics authors in each doctoral year group, the top-50 ethics authors over the most recent 10, 20, and 25 years, and a distribution among ethics scholars for these periods. For the 25-year timeframe, our data indicate that only 665 (274) of the 5,125 accounting PhDs/DBAs (13.0% and 5.4% respectively) in Canada and the United States had authored or co-authored one (more than one) ethics article.
Details
Keywords
David Cosgrave and Michele O'Dwyer
This study explores the millennial perceptions of cause-related marketing (CRM) in international markets through the lens of an ethical continuum. Literature gaps exist in our…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the millennial perceptions of cause-related marketing (CRM) in international markets through the lens of an ethical continuum. Literature gaps exist in our understanding of cause-related marketing, ethics and millennials in an international context, with few studies offering insights into successful CRM campaigns in developed vs developing countries. Previous studies have yielded differing responses based on culture, sociodemographic and consumer perceptions.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory qualitative research method was adopted to build the theory necessary to address this research gap. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 155 undergraduate and postgraduate students representing 17 nationalities. Interviews were conducted in two regions (Ireland and United Arab Emirates) representing developed and developing markets.
Findings
Discrepancies exist between millennial consumers when it comes to ethical self-reporting, perceptions of CRM initiatives, choice criteria of CRM offers and purchase intentions. Findings also suggest that there is a relationship between the religious and ethical beliefs of millennials in certain regions. Gender showed no significant differences in perceptions of CRM.
Originality/value
This study examines millennial perceptions of CRM from multiple nationalities in developed vs developing markets. It introduces the ethical continuum in international CRM as a lens to examine perceptions of millennial consumers. The study identifies that millennials should not be treated as a homogenous group, suggesting different choice criteria of millennial consumers based on their ethical standards. It demonstrates emerging support for the role of religion in successful adoption of CRM.
Details
Keywords
Kimberley Webb, Thomas Schröder and David Mark Gresswell
The purpose of this paper is to explore service users’ experiences of the process of ending from national health service (NHS) community personality disorder services.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore service users’ experiences of the process of ending from national health service (NHS) community personality disorder services.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight participants recruited from four NHS community personality disorder services.
Findings
Three main themes emerged; “Service users” experiences in the context of “Reflective versus Reactive practice”, “Endings held in mind” and “What next”?
Originality/value
Further recommendations are provided for practitioners supporting individuals managing endings alongside a “readiness to end” model which may be used in clinical practice.
Details
Keywords
Shane Blackman and Robert McPherson
This study examines the connections between subculture theory, symbolic interaction and the work of David Matza with a special focus on exploring alcohol consumption by young…
Abstract
This study examines the connections between subculture theory, symbolic interaction and the work of David Matza with a special focus on exploring alcohol consumption by young adults in the UK. We apply Matza ideas of the “techniques of neutralization,” “subterranean values,” and “drift” within an ethnographic study on alcohol to suggest that young people's “calculated hedonism” can be understood as a strategy of agency in the context of a subcultural setting. This article adds to the literature of symbolic interaction, subculture and the discipline of sociology by critically focusing on the work of David Matza from its reception in the 1960s to today as a central element of the new paradigm of cultural criminology. For us the sociological imagination is “alive and well” through Matza's advocacy of naturalism whereby he sought to integrate the work Chicago School under Park and Burgess with his assessment of the so-called Neo-Chicago School. In the literature Matza's work is often defined as symbolic interactionist we see his ambition in a wider sense of wanting sociology to recover human struggle and the active creation of meaning. Our approach is to understand the calculated hedonism of young adult use of alcohol through their humanity.
Details
Keywords
M. Christian Mastilak, Linda Matuszewski, Fabienne Miller and Alexander Woods
Commentators have claimed that business schools encourage unethical behavior by using economic theory as a basis for education. We examine claims that exposure to agency theory…
Abstract
Commentators have claimed that business schools encourage unethical behavior by using economic theory as a basis for education. We examine claims that exposure to agency theory acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy, reducing ethical behavior among business students. We experimentally test whether economics coursework or a manipulated competitive vs. cooperative frame affects measured ethical behavior in simulated decision settings. We measure ethical behavior using established tasks. We also measure ethical recognition to test whether agency theory reduces recognition of ethical issues. Exposure to agency theory in either prior classwork or the experiment increased wealth-increasing unethical behavior. We found no effect on unethical behavior that does not affect wealth. We found no effect of exposure to agency theory on ethical recognition. Usual laboratory experiment limitations apply. Future research can examine why agency theory reduces ethical behavior. Educators ought to consider unintended consequences of the language and assumptions of theories that underlie education. Students may assume descriptions of how people behave as prescriptions for how people ought to behave. This study contributes to the literature on economic education and ethics. We found no prior experimental studies of the effect of economics education on ethical behavior.