Andreas Hellström and Jonas Peterson
The purpose of this study is to investigate what happens within an organization when a process view of the business is adopted. With the example of an empirical case, we aim to…
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate what happens within an organization when a process view of the business is adopted. With the example of an empirical case, we aim to illustrate: how members of the organization make sense of process management; what contributions members of the organization consider to be the result of adopting a process view; and the relationship between the functional and the process structure. The empirical base in this study is one of Sweden’s largest purchasing organizations within the public sector. The results are drawn from interviews with the process owners and a survey to all members involved in process teams. The case findings reveal an ambiguous image of process management. At the same time as process management solved specific organizational problems, it generated new dilemmas. It is argued that it is more rewarding to consider the adoption of the process view a “social negotiation” rather than the result of planned implementation. The study also highlights that the meaning of process management is not anything given but something being created, and its negotiation and translation into organizational practice is open‐ended. Furthermore, the study givs an illustration of the conflict between the adopted process view and the existing functional organization.
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The use of natural resources and the policy environment surrounding this use are informed by concepts derived from economic theory, extant technology, past uses, common law…
Abstract
The use of natural resources and the policy environment surrounding this use are informed by concepts derived from economic theory, extant technology, past uses, common law, statutory regulations, and descriptive ethics influenced by past and present social mores. As such, the uses of natural resources tend to reflect where society has been rather than where it is going. This is especially the case if we consider that existing laws and regulations controlling the allocation and utilisation of natural resources such as land, air, surface water, and groundwater are largely based on utilitarianism reflecting a worldview dating back to Greek antiquity. Given that utilitarianism and a worldview in which nature is perceived as immutable have become part of our legal foundation, technological changes now present ethical and economic problems that threaten part of this foundation. Within a market economy such as that of the United States, the legal environment regulating decisions regarding the use of natural resources contains contradictions that adversely affect the efficiency of allocative decision making. On the one hand, users of resources are urged to find the highest and best use of the resources and are supported by case law and legal precedent, while on the other, statutes based on alternative ethics increasingly prohibit certain uses of natural resources. Additionally, recent legislation, for example, the 1985 Food Security Act, is changing entitlement rules. Concurrently, legal doctrines such as public trust are challenging assumed private property rights. In this article I describe some of these ethical and economic problems while relating them to existing and emerging natural resources law and litigation. While doing so, I review the critical works of Jonas and Rawls. As opposed to utilitarians justifying their actions based on the intrinsic goodness or badness of the end(s) resulting from the action, Jonas and Rawls are ethical formalists seeking rules of right conduct that everyone performs as a matter of principle; see Taylor. In addition, I review the Public Trust Doctrine, and the manipulation of entitlement rules, as “tools” being used to address issues of environmental quality and resource utilisation. For example, see Calabresi and Melamed and Bromley.
The paper seeks to examine the potential implications for leadership preparation programs of the intersection between emotions and leadership for social justice.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to examine the potential implications for leadership preparation programs of the intersection between emotions and leadership for social justice.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology followed was grounded in an ethnographic case study of a Greek‐Cypriot principal who struggled to transform his elementary school into a community that truly included students from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
Findings
The findings of the case study highlight: the vision and practices of leadership for social justice; the ambivalent emotions of social justice leadership; and strategies for coping with the personal and structural dimensions of social justice leadership.
Practical implications
The practical implications are discussed in relation to the emotional knowledge and skills that are needed for preparing social justice leaders to navigate emotionally through existing school structures and to cultivate critical emotional reflexivity about the changes that are needed to school discourses and practices so that justice and equity are placed at the center of school leadership.
Originality/value
The paper offers insights into the emotional aspects of leadership for social justice, focusing on the implications for leadership preparation programs.
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Julie Brueckner, Janine Bosak and Jonas W.B. Lang
This study examined gender differences in CEOs' expression of implicit achievement, power and affiliation motivation. Building on the role congruity account of sex differences and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examined gender differences in CEOs' expression of implicit achievement, power and affiliation motivation. Building on the role congruity account of sex differences and similarities in motivation and existing literature on implicit motives, the study tested whether female CEOs would express higher affiliation motivation than male CEOs and similar levels of achievement motivation. In addition, gender differences in power motivation were explored.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used propensity score matching to generate a comparable sample of male and female CEOs from publicly traded companies. Subsequently, the authors content-coded CEO letters from annual reports using Winter's (1994) manual for scoring motive imagery in running text.
Findings
Overall, CEOs expressed more achievement and power motivation than affiliation motivation. Comparisons between male and female CEOs showed that female CEOs expressed lower power and higher affiliation motivation than male CEOs.
Research limitations/implications
By integrating implicit motive theory with social role theory and the role congruity account of motivation, this study provides a theoretical framework and novel demonstration that understanding social roles and gender roles can lend insights into motive expression by CEOs.
Originality/value
The study uses established theory and a validated scoring method in a novel way by analyzing implicit motives from CEO letters, a critical communication channel in the CEO–shareholder relationship. In doing so, this study adopts a sociocultural perspective. Informed by the role congruity account of motivation, the study demonstrates the importance of social roles and gender roles for motivational displays.
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Julia M. Jonas, Julian Boha, David Sörhammar and Kathrin M. Moeslein
To further extend the understanding of multidimensional engagement of stakeholders embedded in service systems, the purpose of this paper is to explore the antecedents that…
Abstract
Purpose
To further extend the understanding of multidimensional engagement of stakeholders embedded in service systems, the purpose of this paper is to explore the antecedents that constitute stakeholder engagement in inter-organizational service ecosystems where stakeholders co-create innovations over time.
Design/methodology/approach
An explorative, longitudinal case study design is employed to analyze stakeholders’ engagement in co-innovation in an inter-organizational service system in an engineering context.
Findings
The study identifies eight antecedents for stakeholder engagement in innovation in the context of a B2B environment. Building on related engagement research, the empirical data show how stakeholder engagement is influenced at both individual and organizational levels by the antecedents friendship, common experiences, self-representation, trust, a common goal, resource dependency, level in the hierarchy, institutional arrangements, and local proximity.
Originality/value
The paper extends current understanding of engagement and illuminates stakeholder engagement on a micro level, addressing four key issues for stakeholder engagement in a service ecosystem. How can stakeholder engagement be maintained over time? Does stakeholder engagement at specific hierarchical levels enhance or hinder inter-organizational co-innovation? Is strong engagement necessary for innovation activities? Are the different engagement antecedents linked?
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Michael Pitt and James Bennett
Technological innovations and continuing IT developments, together with the now widespread use of innovative space planning techniques, such as hot‐desking have been hailed as the…
Abstract
Purpose
Technological innovations and continuing IT developments, together with the now widespread use of innovative space planning techniques, such as hot‐desking have been hailed as the remedy for the demand for a more intensive and efficient use of space in offices. Although most organisations have attempted to simultaneously provide for human needs and requirements, most, if not all have fallen short. This paper aims to investigate whether an optimum balance can be struck between commercial requirements of flexibility, in terms of office design, while at the same time ensuring that the human needs of privacy, identity, status and personal control are not compromised.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper considers current thought and provides a literature review in the area. The paper aims to establish that new work methods can have a potentially negative effect on employee performance in companies as the implementation of new ways of working does not always take into account the importance of employee satisfaction and empowerment. New work methods and innovative space planning techniques are compared and contrasted to case study observations at the offices of Drivers Jonas LLP, Chartered Surveyors, in Manchester.
Findings
Innovative space planning concepts and recent technological innovations are examined including how they impact on the employee, in terms of behaviour and work satisfaction. A case study identifies how the unique culture of openness and sharing that is present at Drivers Jonas LLP can successfully integrate human requirements with physical requirements so that optimal employee performance and satisfaction is achieved.
Originality/value
The paper establishes that the culture of an organisation is the most important element in determining whether a workforce can own their own space in a space sharing environment. In terms of increasing workplace satisfaction which is directly linked to “better business performance”, the paper will identify that all innovative space planning techniques and methods will fall at the first hurdle, if an organisation does not have the right culture to support its ideas.
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Kiri West, Maui Hudson and Tahu Kukutai
In the twenty-first century, data are the world’s most valuable resource. Technological capacities for the collection, storage, analysis and sharing of data are evolving rapidly…
Abstract
In the twenty-first century, data are the world’s most valuable resource. Technological capacities for the collection, storage, analysis and sharing of data are evolving rapidly, and as a result, so too are the possibilities for improving the day-to-day lives of people. However, data use can also result in exploitation and harm; nowhere is this more evident than for Indigenous peoples. Unfortunately, the rapid expansion of technology has not been matched by a sufficiently robust discussion of ethics nor the development of governance frameworks. Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDS) has emerged as a key consideration for this cause. Beginning with the presumption of Indigenous rights to tribal/nation sovereignty, IDS weaves together Indigenous research ethics, cultural and intellectual property rights and Indigenous governance discourse, with the view to offer solutions to the challenges being presented in an open data environment. This chapter will expand on this existing literature base and consider Māori data sovereignty in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. More specifically, it provides the basis for a discussion around how kawa and tikanga drawn from Te Ao Māori might inform approaches to data ethics and data governance.
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Andrea Bazzoli and Tahira M. Probst
Extant research on job insecurity has traditionally investigated this construct as a hindrance stressor, based on theoretical developments and meta-analytical results that have…
Abstract
Extant research on job insecurity has traditionally investigated this construct as a hindrance stressor, based on theoretical developments and meta-analytical results that have shown consistent negative relationships between job insecurity and a host of organizational outcomes. In this chapter, the authors take a person-centered perspective based on the transactional theory of stress and argue that employees can and do appraise job insecurity in different ways which is manifested by qualitatively distinct latent profiles. The authors also argue that certain positive psychological variables (i.e., hope, optimism, self-efficacy, and grit) might influence one’s odds to belong to specific appraisal latent classes. Using a cross-lagged dataset of 322 US-based employees, the authors found evidence of five qualitatively different latent profiles (i.e., employees who viewed job insecurity as: (1) irrelevant, (2) simultaneously moderately challenging and hindering, (3) primarily hindering, (4) both highly challenging and highly hindering, or (5) primarily challenging). Further, the results showed that higher grit was associated with higher odds of belonging to any of the appraisal profiles compared to the high challenge/high hindrance group whereas higher self-efficacy was associated with higher odds of belonging to the irrelevant group compared to any of the appraisal profiles. Hope and optimism, however, did not influence latent class membership. The authors discuss the implications for theory and practice considering seemingly paradoxical findings demonstrating sometimes positive and sometimes negative outcomes of job insecurity, as well as traditional assumptions that employees primarily view job insecurity as either a hindrance or a challenge.