Vivian Nossiter and Gerald Biberman
Questionnaires that involved projective drawings and metaphor byasking respondents to draw an image and name an animal representingtheir organisation and department were completed…
Abstract
Questionnaires that involved projective drawings and metaphor by asking respondents to draw an image and name an animal representing their organisation and department were completed by managers in two corporate firms. The procedure produced consistent, interpretable results suggesting the methodology′s usefulness in analysing an organisation′s culture.
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Len Tischler, Jerry Biberman and Abbass Alkhafaji
Higher education around the world appears to be at the beginning of a period of major transformation, with new roles, demands, and responsibilities. Administrators need new…
Abstract
Higher education around the world appears to be at the beginning of a period of major transformation, with new roles, demands, and responsibilities. Administrators need new understanding, tools, and approaches for managing such a transformation. This paper describes a general framework for strategic planning that academic institutions can use in their efforts to engage in such a transformation. The framework includes many of the newest tools and approaches in management.
Brad S. Long and Cathy Driscoll
Based on themes the authors observed in workplace spirituality texts, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the historicity of these texts and induce a model to help them…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on themes the authors observed in workplace spirituality texts, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the historicity of these texts and induce a model to help them understand how this discourse of workplace spirituality came into being.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors perform intertextual analysis to show how authors draw upon concepts available in the broader discursive context, from which the authors produced a textscape of the workplace spirituality discourse to depict these layers of discursive interconnections.
Findings
The expressed novelty and recency of workplace spirituality as a form of management knowledge, the authors argue, is made ambiguous by its heavy borrowing from other discourses. The authors show how existent spiritual, organizational and societal-level discourses create the conditions of possibility for the discourse of workplace spirituality to emerge. Most of the authors within the corpus engaged the same theories in organizational studies that created the kind of workplaces they now seek to change.
Practical implications
The power of the workplace spirituality discourse to improve the state of workers and work and achieve the expressed desire for change may be diminished through the discursive practices of its authors.
Originality/value
The authors offer a visual “textscape” in which the findings are framed and hence operationalize this idea in a novel manner that contributes to the methods of discourse analysis. The findings also call for more critical reflection into whether workplace spirituality represents a solution to organizational problems when neither the workers nor work it constructs are particularly new.
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Denise Bedford, Ira Chalphin, Karen Dietz and Karla Phlypo
Denise Bedford, Ira Chalphin, Karen Dietz and Karla Phlypo
Gerald Cavanagh, Bradley Hanson, Kirk Hanson and Juan Hinojoso
Jerry feels good as he leaves his office for the day. He takes pride in being CEO of a Healthcare System that provides much-needed services to the urban poor often in difficult…
Abstract
Jerry feels good as he leaves his office for the day. He takes pride in being CEO of a Healthcare System that provides much-needed services to the urban poor often in difficult circumstances. He reflects that his career has been an interesting journey. He had started as an accountant with Price Waterhouse, but found the work and time pressures very heavy. Wanting to spend more time with his family, he moved to the a health care system and rose to Controller. There had been a period while Controller when he wondered whether he had made an error in making the change, given the financial turbulence his health care system experienced with the transition to managed care. He experienced no less stress than at Price Waterhouse as he assisted his new employer to manage a turnaround to eliminate waste and reposition the system within a solid financial model. But he emerged from the turnaround with a new sense of direction and drive. Subsequently, seven years ago Healthhelp chose him as its Chief Financial Officer and he’s been CEO for almost three years. Today he’s excited about the new marketing plan he just reviewed which promises to give Healthhelp a bigger share of the home care market.