The purpose of this paper is to examine how one company responded to opportunities and threats during periods of economic downturn. It aims to explore the area of organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how one company responded to opportunities and threats during periods of economic downturn. It aims to explore the area of organizational change and development and how organizational dynamics can shed light on the issue. It also aims to look at how companies are implementing various schemes to motivate staff and increase morale during the economic crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on a case study and the views of a practitioner that adopts a dynamic rather than a conventional organizational dynamics (OD) viewpoint. It extracts the main points from articles dealing with managing employees through the recovery.
Findings
“Every cloud has a silver lining”. Or so they say. For companies the ability to take advantage of a financial and economic downturn and to use it to their advantage depends on a whole number of factors – some of them within their control, but others over which they have no control at all. What makes it possible for some companies to come out of a recession relatively unscathed, even healthier than they were before while for other companies it marks the beginning of their downward spiral to oblivion? This paper analyses a case study of a company that has thrived during turbulent periods, draws on the views of development specialists and organizational practitioners to critically examine current practice in these areas and provides information from relevant articles looking at managing employees through the recovery.
Practical implications
The paper provides management with useful insights into how organizations can survive an economic downturn and how employees can be motivated to support a change agenda.
Social implications
The paper looks at how working conditions can be made more employee‐friendly.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the discussion on how organizations can weather the economic crisis and examines different strategies for engaging the workforce.
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The addition of nutrient factors, vitamins, minerals, etc., to food to enrich or restore deficiencies in normal concentrations is considered by most people to be a commendable…
Abstract
The addition of nutrient factors, vitamins, minerals, etc., to food to enrich or restore deficiencies in normal concentrations is considered by most people to be a commendable practice, in quite a different category to other food additives, which have little or nothing to do with nutrition and are used mainly for commercial purposes.
John A. Rodgers, David C. Yen and David C. Chou
While e‐business is often mixed with electronic commerce (e‐commerce), they are completely different concepts. E‐business encompasses e‐commerce as well as many other…
Abstract
While e‐business is often mixed with electronic commerce (e‐commerce), they are completely different concepts. E‐business encompasses e‐commerce as well as many other applications. There are more benefits to be derived from e‐business than from e‐commerce. Electronic business (e‐business) is revolutionizing the way of communication between internal and external stakeholders within an organization. Connecting numerous information systems and integrating data streams can significantly increase the operational efficiency of the firm. E‐business can lead to competitive advantage as well as profitability.
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Jordon Swain, James Tuite and John Borland
The case describes the dilemma a young leader, First Lieutenant Toomey, faces after arriving at a new organization. Toomey’s subordinate (sergeant first class Rodgers) is more…
Abstract
Synopsis
The case describes the dilemma a young leader, First Lieutenant Toomey, faces after arriving at a new organization. Toomey’s subordinate (sergeant first class Rodgers) is more experienced and accomplished and has enjoyed a degree of autonomy under Toomey’s predecessor. Rodger’s demeanor and the physical setup of the joint office space speak to a dysfunctional dynamic in an organization that values a traditional hierarchy and relatively high power distance between supervisor and subordinate. The potential for conflict exists as Toomey contemplates how to address the dysfunctional norms he has observed while maintaining a functional relationship and reputation as an effective leader in his new unit.
Research methodology
The case was created via an interview of the protagonist.
Relevant courses and levels
This case is designed for use in undergraduate and graduate level courses on leadership and management. The case is useful for teaching lessons (or electives) on power, influence, conflict management, culture and leading change.
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Jeffrey Muldoon and Daniel B. Marin
This paper proposes to explore the circumstances of the word management's entry into English usage, to deepen understanding of this neglected chapter in management history, and to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper proposes to explore the circumstances of the word management's entry into English usage, to deepen understanding of this neglected chapter in management history, and to urge further historical research into seminal management terms and concepts. It also aims to offer a brief explanation of John Florio's role in the introduction of management into English and of that of the Italian Renaissance's influence in England.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper's guiding theoretical premise is historian Daniel Rodgers' observation that concepts in government and business often pass from one country to another through “cross fertilization,” effected by the movements and offices of highly connected, cosmopolitan individuals. The sources for this exploration include Florio's World of Words, histories of Florio's circumstances and of the Italian Renaissance, and Evans' edition of La pratica della mercatura (ca 1340) by Francesco Balducci Pegolotti of the fourteenth century Florentine banking firm of Bardi.
Findings
The exploration's findings reinforce Rodgers's account of the spread of government and business concepts and rediscovers a vital link between business practice and humanistic studies.
Research limitations/implications
Modern business education, e.g. in its frequent omission of a foreign language requirement in business college curricula, tends to obscure this linkage, now critical in our global economy. The implication is that this linkage should be revived.
Originality/value
Deeper knowledge of the Italian Renaissance roots of management and of the business practices it denoted brings new light to the interplay between humanistic studies associated with the Italian Renaissance and Renaissance business practices in an international context. Accordingly, the authors believe that this exploration turns a page, albeit the first page, of a neglected chapter in the history of management thought and practice.
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Alexandra L. Ferrentino, Meghan L. Maliga, Richard A. Bernardi and Susan M. Bosco
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in…
Abstract
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in business-ethics and accounting’s top-40 journals this study considers research in eight accounting-ethics and public-interest journals, as well as, 34 business-ethics journals. We analyzed the contents of our 42 journals for the 25-year period between 1991 through 2015. This research documents the continued growth (Bernardi & Bean, 2007) of accounting-ethics research in both accounting-ethics and business-ethics journals. We provide data on the top-10 ethics authors in each doctoral year group, the top-50 ethics authors over the most recent 10, 20, and 25 years, and a distribution among ethics scholars for these periods. For the 25-year timeframe, our data indicate that only 665 (274) of the 5,125 accounting PhDs/DBAs (13.0% and 5.4% respectively) in Canada and the United States had authored or co-authored one (more than one) ethics article.
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April 24, 1969 Mines and quarries — Act of 1954 — Duty to fence — Construction — Hoisting tractor out of clay pit — Nip between ram connecting cylinder with scarifying bar on back…
Abstract
April 24, 1969 Mines and quarries — Act of 1954 — Duty to fence — Construction — Hoisting tractor out of clay pit — Nip between ram connecting cylinder with scarifying bar on back of tractor — Slip by employee trapping foot in nip — Whether ram a reasonably foreseeable cause of injury — Whether a “dangerous” exposed part of machinery — Whether duty to fence — Rope from crane not long enough to reach if tractor on level ground — Tractor backed up to bottom of slope — Whether failure to provide longer rope breach of common law duty — Mines and Quarries Act, 1954 (2 & 3 Eliz.II, c.70) ss.82,115(a).
The Standing Committee of the House of Commons on Trade, presided over by LORD E. FITZMAURICE, met again on July 16th and proceeded with the Sale of Adulterated Butter Bill.
Shakoor Ward and Keith B. Wilson
The study investigated the relevance of psychosocial variables and how they interact with socio economic status (SES) as it relates to the persistence of African-American students…
Abstract
The study investigated the relevance of psychosocial variables and how they interact with socio economic status (SES) as it relates to the persistence of African-American students at the major US public universities. The study analyzed the responses of 327 web survey participants attending a major public university in the eastern region of the United States. The results suggest that students from higher SES backgrounds, more than likely, have already acquired or are more easily able to adopt characteristics that are ideal for persistence (e.g., commitment to personal goals, and biculturalism) than students from lower SES backgrounds.
Previous studies have shown that – even after controlling for precollege performance – students who come from families with higher-income levels and parental education persist to graduate at higher rates and earn higher-grade point averages (Bowen & Bok, 1998; Pascarella, 1985). This study purports to provide the context for reflecting on the ways in which current student persistence theories might be modified to account more directly for how SES may influence psychosocial variables that contribute to the process of African-American student persistence in major US universities.
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L.J. Russell, Edmund Davies and L.J. Megaw
January 27, 1970 Mines Quarry — Dangerous machinery — Moveable bar on tractor — Four‐inch nip when bar fully raised — Tractor being removed from pit by attaching dragline to bar �…
Abstract
January 27, 1970 Mines Quarry — Dangerous machinery — Moveable bar on tractor — Four‐inch nip when bar fully raised — Tractor being removed from pit by attaching dragline to bar — Slip by employee trapping foot in nip — Whether a “dangerous” exposed part of machinery — Whether duty to fence — Dragline not long enough to reach if tractor on level ground — Tractor backed short way up slope of pit — Whether failure to provide longer dragline breach of statutory or common law duty — Mines and Quarries Act, 1954 (2 & 3 Eliz.II, c.70), ss. 82(1), 115.