In 2005, developing technically minded employees into productive people managers was top of the agenda for IT services organization, Fujitsu. The company wanted to extend its…
Abstract
In 2005, developing technically minded employees into productive people managers was top of the agenda for IT services organization, Fujitsu. The company wanted to extend its employees’ expertise beyond just technological advancements, but also focus on their internal managerial skills. Here, Ian Williams, Fujitsu’s head of organization and people development, explains how a modular management development program has enabled the organization to get more from its people.
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The purpose of this paper is to build a new theoretical framework for inscribing the constituents of therapeutic community (TC) practice in prisons and other secure psychiatric…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to build a new theoretical framework for inscribing the constituents of therapeutic community (TC) practice in prisons and other secure psychiatric settings looking at three core element: homeliness, hope and humour.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on theory building, review of related literature, including research and policy, and synthesis from related funded research projects (Sociology of Health and Illness, Arts Humanities Research Council).
Findings
Home-as-method, and the concept of transitional home, highlights how a well-designed therapeutic environment looks and feels and can act as a base for effective rehabilitation. The TC aspires to offer a corrective new synthesis of home superseding the resident’s prior experience. A through-going definition of hope-as-method is outlined. It is argued that hope is co-constructed on the TC, and that there is a necessary challenge in gauging fluctuations in hope across time. Humour is a much overlooked idea but arguably an integral ingredient of healthy transactions between prisoners and staff. The particularities of humour present a challenge and an opportunity for harnessing the conditions when humour can flourish and conversely, the chain of events when mal humour damages community atmosphere.
Practical implications
H3 provides a new framework for reflecting on current TC practice, and also a model for developing novel ways of seeing, including the development of research and policy guidance. H3 also provides a philosophical base for developing a curriculum for education and training.
Originality/value
The 3Hs offers a rubric for positively narrating the aspirations of a prison milieu. The idea is purposively simple, and so far the authors have found that staff, prisoners and service directors are receptive to the concept, and there are plans for the 3Hs are set to be a narrative descriptor for developing practice in prisons.
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This chapter reviews the literature to contextualize the intervention in the post–cold war era characterized by the momentum of globalization dominated by informal actors beside…
Abstract
This chapter reviews the literature to contextualize the intervention in the post–cold war era characterized by the momentum of globalization dominated by informal actors beside the legal authority of the state. It indicates how these actors deviate the primary purpose of the humanitarian intervention and create an ungovernable environment of the state particularly when interventions are operated in countries endowed with natural resources. The case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) serves as a model to ascertain such phenomenon in which actors such as states involved in intervention come in collusion with shadow elites, lobbyists and multinational companies to establish clandestine networks of illegal exploitation and smuggling of natural resources. The chapter winds up by suggesting the redefinition of policies of interventions to keep humanitarian intervention in its primary mission while holding actors involved in illegal and smuggling of natural resources accountable.
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Stuart Burgess and Ian Williams
The purpose of this paper is to present an outline of research, and provide a range of ideas and strategies that an organisation can adopt to improve its performance, in both…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an outline of research, and provide a range of ideas and strategies that an organisation can adopt to improve its performance, in both financial and non‐financial measures.
Design/methodology/approach
A Cranfield University research paper used the Investors in People (IIP) quality standard to link the engagement of people to the development of high‐performance organisations
Findings
The research shows that by implementing commitment based HR strategies creates long‐term and quality engagement of employees. Furthermore, such strategies impact positively on financial as well as non‐financial performance of organisations.
Research limitations/implications
The Standard has been the subject of research since its inception. Much of the previous research found that the IIP Standard has a positive impact on business performance although the conclusions were not unanimous. In addition, the Standard is reviewed and revised every three to five years, so past findings cannot always be related to the current Standard
Practical implications
A total of 40,000 organisations use the Investors in People standard because it: is a useful framework for organisations undergoing significant or a rapid change and it is business improvement focused – whatever the business priorities.
Originality/value
The paper focuses on business improvement research and practice.
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Geoff Lancaster and Ian Williams
Purchasing decisions for “aids to daily living” (ADL) by the disabled and elderly tend to be commodity based to which value cannot be added through sales propositions. This paper…
Abstract
Purchasing decisions for “aids to daily living” (ADL) by the disabled and elderly tend to be commodity based to which value cannot be added through sales propositions. This paper reports research that investigated disparate customer segments in the “grey” sector. Quantitative research suggested that in order to develop market potential, different consumers need to be targeted and communicated to in different ways. Different psychographic categories had different personality based characteristics that need to be tapped into in order to better capture attention and interest. The traditional view of older people needing a rehabilitation product as being “desperate” needs to be changed through the use of promotional messages concentrating more upon humour and wit.
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This chapter considers the commitment of gender equality at universities and how it is expressed and measured via a gender equality scorecard. The Gender Equality Scorecard is…
Abstract
This chapter considers the commitment of gender equality at universities and how it is expressed and measured via a gender equality scorecard. The Gender Equality Scorecard is seen as an accountability measure that seeks to build awareness of the magnitude of the problem (if it exists), interpret the meaning of the (in)equities, and move to action. It is regarded as a supportive mechanism to the development and implementation of a Gender Policy as articulated in The UWI Strategic Plan, 2012–2017. The development of a Scorecard is also seen as an example of collaborative governance in action that fosters engagement, commitment, and action across an institution. The proposed model draws upon the experiences of the Gender Equity Scorecards used by international development agencies and other higher educational institutions. The chapter proposes a framework and methodology using staff and student data from The University of the West Indies for the period 1990–1991 to 2011–2012 to build a Gender Scorecard. Finally, the Scorecard is seen as a tool to track performance related to the creation and enhancement of relevant structures and processes to institutionalize gender equality into the functions, operations, and governance of institutions.
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Paul Outlet. International organisation and dissemination of knowledge: selected essays of Paul Otlet translated and edited with an introduction by W. Boyd Rayward. Amsterdam…
Abstract
Paul Outlet. International organisation and dissemination of knowledge: selected essays of Paul Otlet translated and edited with an introduction by W. Boyd Rayward. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1990. xi, 256 pp. $115.50/Dfl.225. 0 444 88678 8. (fid 684) Paul Otlet was born in Brussels in August 1868 and died there in December 1944. A lawyer who grew to be ‘bored with the law’ and became absorbed with books, libraries and information, he is probably principally remembered in connection with the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC).