Four common goal setting practices in public schools are assessed from the perspective of modern organization theory. The major thesis of the paper is that organizational goals…
Abstract
Four common goal setting practices in public schools are assessed from the perspective of modern organization theory. The major thesis of the paper is that organizational goals are established through the process of committing policies and allocating resources. Thus, the paper questions the rational approach to goal setting in which goal statements are developed by ad hoc committees independent of the arena in which operative decision making occurs. The paper concludes that goal setting should be viewed as a major confrontation of values and that administrators and policy makers might better clarify school goals by examining their actions.
Marie‐Francine Moens and Jos Dumortier
Browsing a database of article abstracts is one way to select and buy relevant magazine articles online. Our research contributes to the design and development of text grammars…
Abstract
Browsing a database of article abstracts is one way to select and buy relevant magazine articles online. Our research contributes to the design and development of text grammars for abstracting texts in unlimited subject domains. We developed a system that parses texts based on the text grammar of a specific text type and that extracts sentences and statements which are relevant for inclusion in the abstracts. The system employs knowledge of the discourse patterns that are typical of news stories. The results are encouraging and demonstrate the importance of discourse structures in text summarisation.
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Francine Schlosser, Deborah M. McPhee, Jody L. Ralph and Hanna Salminen
Francine Richer and Louis Jacques Filion
Shortly before the Second World War, a woman who had never accepted her orphan status, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, nicknamed ‘Little Coco’ by her father and known as ‘Coco’ to her…
Abstract
Shortly before the Second World War, a woman who had never accepted her orphan status, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, nicknamed ‘Little Coco’ by her father and known as ‘Coco’ to her relatives, became the first women in history to build a world-class industrial empire. By 1935, Coco, a fashion designer and industry captain, was employing more than 4,000 workers and had sold more than 28,000 dresses, tailored jackets and women's suits. Born into a poor family and raised in an orphanage, she enjoyed an intense social life in Paris in the 1920s, rubbing shoulders with artists, creators and the rising stars of her time.
Thanks to her entrepreneurial skills, she was able to innovate in her methods and in her trendsetting approach to fashion design and promotion. Coco Chanel was committed and creative, had the soul of an entrepreneur and went on to become a world leader in a brand new sector combining fashion, accessories and perfumes that she would help shape. By the end of her life, she had redefined French elegance and revolutionized the way people dressed.
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Patrick Lo, Robert Sutherland, Wei-En Hsu and Russ Girsberger
The purpose of this paper is to propose that sales managers use mobile technologies in the working environment to communicate and supportively monitor sales person performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose that sales managers use mobile technologies in the working environment to communicate and supportively monitor sales person performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A model of supervisor monitoring using mobile technologies is conceptualized that specifies the types of behaviours that promote high‐quality working relationships, how mobile technologies increase the likelihood of work‐to‐nonwork role spill‐over that may damage the relationship and why perceptions of supervisor fairness are critical. The paper concludes by presenting strategies for testing hypotheses and for researching mobile technology use by sales managers using qualitative and quantitative methods.
Findings
Mobile technology use, supervisory monitoring, and relationship development co‐exist in the current workplace. This research heightens awareness of how work‐to‐nonwork spillover may influence important outcomes of mobile technology usage. Perceptions of quality supervisor‐employee relationships are important to retaining and motivating employees. As the workforce ages and skilled workers become more scarce, it is expected that this theoretical examination and ensuing future research will be interesting and important to the twenty‐first century manager.
Originality/value
This paper aligns research in the areas of leadership, monitoring and ubiquitous or mobile technologies. Previous leadership researches have questioned whether or not the use of different electronic monitoring tools affects the leader's ability to influence others. However, few researchers have examined performance‐based monitoring using mobile technologies, although mobile technologies make it easier for sales managers to monitor non‐traditional work arrangements (i.e. off‐site or contracted work). Furthermore, past research has been inconsistent in explaining how employees view information‐gathering or monitoring by their managers.
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Francine Rodier, Fabien Durif and Myriam Ertz
Previous research has extensively examined “food deserts,” where access to healthy food is limited. However, little is known of the buying behavior at the individual household…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research has extensively examined “food deserts,” where access to healthy food is limited. However, little is known of the buying behavior at the individual household level in terms of buying habits and consumption in these areas. The purpose of this paper is to determine to what extent other factors than access can account for the purchase of healthy food products, namely, fruits and vegetables.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes to partially fill this gap through a qualitative (n=55) and quantitative (n=512) study of those people who are in charge of their household purchases in two food deserts in the city of Montreal.
Findings
Results show that geographical access to supermarkets is not the main factor fostering the purchase of healthy foods (fruits and vegetables). Indeed, food education (e.g. information, simple recipes, cooking classes), associated with a changing mediation process through product diversification (e.g. availability of local products in bulk) and supply (e.g. farmers) seems to be more significant.
Research limitations/implications
Future studies could compare the results obtained through this study in different socio-demographic contexts. Longitudinal analyses could also increase the understanding of the social and commercial challenges.
Originality/value
In contrast to previous studies, the results show that geographical access to supermarkets is not the main factor fostering the purchase of fruits and vegetables. Indeed, food education (e.g. information, simple recipes, cooking classes), associated with a changing mediation process through product diversification (e.g. products in bulk) and supply (e.g. farmers) seem to be more significant.