This paper reports on the initial results of a study on the changing personnel systems of large Japanese manufacturing companies. The study used participant observation to take…
Abstract
This paper reports on the initial results of a study on the changing personnel systems of large Japanese manufacturing companies. The study used participant observation to take two distinct snapshots of the changing personnel system of a major Japanese company over a three‐year period, and also involved two sets of interviews with four other leading companies to gather comparative information on contemporary changes to their personnel systems. It appears that changes in these companies are moving beyond time‐honoured incremental adjustments, yet seem to fall short of indicating a transition to Western norms. Apparently, due to a continuing belief in the efficacy of some elements of the approach, Japanese managers are attempting to redefine it without losing its distinctly Japanese flavour. Whether this will be enough to prevent a transition of the Japanese personnel approach to Western norms remains to be seen.
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Christopher M. Hartt, Albert J. Mills and Jean Helms Mills
This paper aims to study the role of non-corporeal Actant theory in historical research through a case study of the trajectory of the New Deal as one of the foremost institutions…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the role of non-corporeal Actant theory in historical research through a case study of the trajectory of the New Deal as one of the foremost institutions in the USA since its inception in the early 1930s.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors follow the trajectory of the New Deal through a focus on Vice President Henry A. Wallace. Drawing on ANTi-History, the authors view history as a powerful discourse for organizing understandings of the past and non-corporeal Actants as a key influence on making sense of (past) events.
Findings
The authors conclude that non-corporeal Actants influence the shaping of management and organization studies that serve paradoxically to obfuscate history and its relationship to the past.
Research limitations/implications
The authors drew on a series of published studies of Henry Wallace and archival material in the Roosevelt Library, but the study would benefit from an in-depth analysis of the Wallace archives.
Practical implications
The authors reveal the influences of non-corporeal Actants as a method for dealing with the past. The authors do this through the use of ANTi-History as a method of historical analysis.
Social implications
The past is an important source of understanding of the present and future; this innovative approach increases the potential to understand.
Originality/value
Decisions are often black boxes. Non-Corporeal Actants are a new tool with which to see the underlying inputs of choice.
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Spectral Technology Ltd—the result of the amalgamation between Colordry Ltd, Wallace Knight Ltd and Primarc Ltd—has announced further details of the structure the new opration…
Mark Pearcy and Jeremiah Clabough
Contemporary American politics has been characterized by excessive, vitriolic rhetoric since the 2016 presidential victory of Donald Trump. However, Donald Trump’s brand of…
Abstract
Purpose
Contemporary American politics has been characterized by excessive, vitriolic rhetoric since the 2016 presidential victory of Donald Trump. However, Donald Trump’s brand of politics is nothing new. He is the inheritor and latest proponent for a brand of American politics that utilizes demagogic rhetoric. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of demagoguery along with the traits of demagogic rhetoric. Two activities for the high school classroom are given that look at the demagogic rhetoric employed by Joseph McCarthy and George Wallace, two of the most infamous political demagogues of the twentieth century.
Design/methodology/approach
With the first activity, McCarthy’s “Enemies from Within Speech” is analyzed by breaking down the speech with Gustainis’ seven traits of demagoguery (1990). Similarly in the second activity, George Wallace’s inaugural address is examined with Gustainis’ seven traits of demagoguery, and then, the authors provide a series of activities that students can do to protest the demagogic rhetoric in Wallace’s inaugural address. Finally, an appendix is provided with additional speeches from American demagogues that social studies teachers can use to teach about elements of demagoguery.
Findings
In this paper, the authors provide an overview of demagoguery along with the traits of demagogic rhetoric. Two activities for the high school classroom are given that look at the demagogic rhetoric employed by Joseph McCarthy and George Wallace, two of the most infamous political demagogues of the twentieth century.
Originality/value
Contemporary American politics has been characterized by excessive, vitriolic rhetoric since the 2016 presidential victory of Donald Trump. However, Donald Trump’s brand of politics is nothing new. He is the inheritor and latest proponent for a brand of American politics that utilizes demagogic rhetoric. In this paper, the authors provide an overview of demagoguery along with the traits of demagogic rhetoric. Students need to be able to critically examine demagogic rhetoric to hold elected officials accountable for their words, actions and policies.
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OUR publication date precludes more than the beginning of our study on the Library Association Conference which, from the point of view of numbers, has been one of the largest. We…
Abstract
OUR publication date precludes more than the beginning of our study on the Library Association Conference which, from the point of view of numbers, has been one of the largest. We shall continue in our next issue such comment upon it as the importance of the subjects under discussion would seem to warrant.
Peter Mark Halladay and Charlene Harrington
– The purpose of this paper is to compare two scandals related to the care of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in the USA and the UK.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare two scandals related to the care of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in the USA and the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
A descriptive case study methodology was used to conduct an in-depth qualitative analysis of the two scandals to examine the process of scandal development, and to survey the policy response against policy trends and theories of abuse in each case. The two cases were systematically analysed against a theoretical framework derived from Bonnie and Wallace (2003) theoretical framework for understanding abuse based on its sociocultural context, the social embeddedness of organisations providing care, and the individual level characteristics and interactions of subjects and carers.
Findings
In both cases the process of scandal construction was comparable, and each case offered confirmatory support to extant theories of abuse, and to wider policy trends within I/DD.
Research limitations/implications
The study examines only the short-term policy responses to the scandals in two countries, based on published material only.
Originality/value
This paper contributes an international comparison of the similarities and differences in the social construction of scandal and the policy responses to abuse and neglect of a vulnerable population using systematic analytical frameworks.