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Article
Publication date: 11 January 2011

David Wasdell

Based in the discipline of applied consultancy‐research, this paper seeks to present a synthesis‐review of the social dynamics underlying the stalled negotiations of the United…

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Abstract

Purpose

Based in the discipline of applied consultancy‐research, this paper seeks to present a synthesis‐review of the social dynamics underlying the stalled negotiations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Its aim is to enhance understanding of the processes involved, to offer a working agenda to the organizational learning community, and to act as a dynamic and interpretive intervention in the negotiation process.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodological approach draws on a wide range of tools from the consultancy‐research domain including force‐field analysis of complex social behaviour, informal interviews, direct participation, existential reflection and process analysis, delineation of power dynamics, literature survey and psychoanalytic exploration of the irrational and unconscious factors involved.

Findings

Several findings emerged from the consultancy research. The force‐field analysis revealed the intensity of polarisation experienced at every point of the negotiation. Economic vested interests and political dynamics blocked all possibility of effective decision making and drove irrational attacks on the validity of climate science as a way of manipulating public opinion. The influence of unconscious factors was paramount, rooted in the re‐stimulation of collective pre‐traumatic‐stress disorder, and mediated via a set of social defences against anxiety.

Research limitations/implications

Significant limitations in the methodology concern the level of subjectivity involved. The development of working hypotheses was exposed to constant review to check for researcher‐specific projection and selectivity of significant data.

Practical implications

The practical implications of the paper for the development and application of organizational learning are spelled out in the final section. Particular attention is drawn to the need to take account of irrational and unconscious phenomena driving social psychodynamics.

Originality/value

The paper represents profoundly original work, emanating from the author's wide‐ranging involvement in the content and process of the international climate‐change negotiations.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 11 January 2011

Peter A.C. Smith

While the adoption of corporate social responsibility reporting has been growing, less interest has been evoked in how organizations are in fact responding to organizational…

6701

Abstract

Purpose

While the adoption of corporate social responsibility reporting has been growing, less interest has been evoked in how organizations are in fact responding to organizational sustainability, or what their relevant optimal strategies ought to be. Triple Bottom Line Sustainability (TBLS) as a desirable organizational goal is now generating some interest, and it is defined here, together with an exploration of the systemic issues which influence organizational attitudes regarding its achievement. Attention is drawn to lessons to be learned from how a learning organization, on either the local or global scale, might respond to the challenges of achieving sustainability. By exploring research and practitioner viewpoints bearing on sustainability‐related promotion of organizational learning, and means to change industrial‐age mindsets, this special issue aims to help organizations remove cultural and structural barriers to progressing sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

General sustainability‐related concerns and challenges are reviewed, and individual authors voice their understanding of various elements of sustainability based on their research, their case studies, and the extant literature.

Findings

Findings include enhanced understanding of how economic vested interests and political dynamics can block effective decision making in the sustainability field, even though the many sustainability experiences from around the world have provided practical means for companies to enhance their economic growth without affecting environments and communities. The impact of two different styles of leadership on the creation of a positive and a negative sustainability‐enabling environment is explained, and it is suggested that having a better understanding of an organization's ability to adapt and self‐regulate on crucial issues for sustainability may help to develop a path through the ongoing socio‐ecological crisis. In addition, the importance of an organization having an extended view of its endeavors in corporate and business ethics is revealed. An action research study is also presented to show how organizations currently view and implement sustainability, and to identify which critical systemic components are yet to be seriously addressed.

Originality/value

The opinions and research presented provide new and unique understanding of the elements contributing to organizational sustainability. Further value is added via the assessment of progress toward the sustainability ideal, the identification of barriers, and by studying the many practical examples of means to facilitate progress toward that ideal.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 January 2010

Christopher Gibbins, Margaret D. Weiss, David W. Goodman, Paul S. Hodgkins, Jeanne M. Landgraf and Stephen V. Faraone

This is the first study to evaluate ADHD-hyperactive/impulsive subtype in a large clinical sample of adults with ADHD. The Quality of Life, Effectiveness, Safety and Tolerability…

1989

Abstract

This is the first study to evaluate ADHD-hyperactive/impulsive subtype in a large clinical sample of adults with ADHD. The Quality of Life, Effectiveness, Safety and Tolerability (QuEST) study included 725 adults who received clinician diagnoses of any ADHD sub-type. Cross-sectional baseline data from 691 patients diagnosed with the hyperactive/impulsive (HI), inattentive (IA) and combined sub-types were used to compare the groups on the clinician administered ADHD-RS, clinical features and health-related quality of life. A consistent pattern of differences was found between the ADHD-I and combined subtypes, with the combined subtype being more likely to be diagnosed in childhood, more severe symptom severity and lower HRQL. Twenty-three patients out of the total sample of 691 patients (3%) received a clinician diagnosis of ADHD -hyperactive/impulsive subtype. Review of the ratings on the ADHD-RS-IV demonstrated, however, that this group had ratings of inattention comparable to the inattentive group. There were no significant differences found between the ADHD-HI and the other subtypes in symptom severity, functioning or quality of life. The hyperactive/impulsive subtype group identified by clinicians in this study was not significantly different from the rest of the sample. By contrast, significant differences were found between the inattentive and combined types. This suggests that in adults, hyperactivity declines and inattention remains significant, making the hyperactive/impulsive sub-type as defined by childhood criteria a very rare condition and raising questions as to the validity of the HI subtype in adults.

Details

Mental Illness, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2036-7465

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