ARTHUR W. LINDEN, DUANE SIMON and LESLIE E. SCOTT
The XH‐59A ABC™ demonstrator aircraft is a research vehicle designed to investigate the unique characteristics of the Advanced Blade Concept. The aircraft, shown in Fig. 1, has…
Abstract
The XH‐59A ABC™ demonstrator aircraft is a research vehicle designed to investigate the unique characteristics of the Advanced Blade Concept. The aircraft, shown in Fig. 1, has now completed an extensive flight test programme investigating its full airspeed, altitude, and manoeuvring envelope. Aircraft design was initiated in 1972, with first flight in July 1973, with certain interruptions to review and analyse flight data and make modifications to the aircraft. The culmination of the flight test programme was a 12.7 hour evaluation of the aircraft by the US Army Aviation Development and Test Activity at Ft. Rucker, Alabama. This evaluation is the subject of this technical report. Reference 1 is the Army report documenting their evaluation. The XH‐59A programme has been jointly funded by the US Army, Navy and Air Force, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Sikorsky Aircraft. The majority of funding has come from the Army.
The benefits of experiential exercises for making conceptual material more dynamic and relevant, thus enhancing students' learning and developing their skills, are well…
Abstract
The benefits of experiential exercises for making conceptual material more dynamic and relevant, thus enhancing students' learning and developing their skills, are well documented. Presented here is an easy‐to‐administer roleplay that enables students to integrate a wide range of concepts covered in a typical organizational behavior course. Participants assume the roles of members of a food services department attending their weekly staff meeting. At the meeting, the new department manager announces that the previous manager has just resigned Each roleplayer has a different perspective on the problem‐riddled department, and none has a complete set of relevant information. Because the roleplayers have engaging issues, students participate actively, practicing managerial behaviors as they experience various organizational phenomena. An assessment of the exercise indicates its usefulness for developing students' skills, imparting an appreciation for the realities of organizational life, and provoking introspection and self‐learning.
Ulf Melin, Pradip K. Sarkar and Leslie W. Young
The predominant narrative is that contemporary organisations, motivated by economic-rationalist aspirations, adopt cloud applications on the premise of achieving cost-savings and…
Abstract
Purpose
The predominant narrative is that contemporary organisations, motivated by economic-rationalist aspirations, adopt cloud applications on the premise of achieving cost-savings and efficiency gains. However, how they actually adopt and rollover such new or emerging technologies may be influenced by acts, patterns and processes of institutional legitimacy. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamics surrounding decisions on how specific cloud applications are adopted from the context of institutional theory, with a particular focus on the concepts of coupling and decoupling.
Design/methodology/approach
To examine this phenomenon, two qualitative case studies, using a reflexive research approach, of an Australian and a Swedish university have been undertaken, both of which adopted commercial cloud applications for e.g. e-mail, collaboration and storage (as examples of software as a service) at different points in time. One of the universities was known for its early adoption of cloud applications, but had decelerated further deployment of such services, while the other, despite its conservative reputation, has made rapid strides in this regard.
Findings
The findings of the dual case studies reveal that organisations, contrary to economic-rationalist claims, may or may not decide to adopt particular commercial cloud-based offerings for the support of core operations, on the basis of how they perceive their institutional legitimacy being affected by a complex network of influential actors, both internally and in the external spaces. Therefore, this paper offers an institutional theory-based discourse and rich illustrations on how the role of technology is played out in enhancing relationships between an organisation and such actors in terms of legitimacy focusing acts of coupling and decoupling.
Originality/value
In the analysis and findings the authors, in a novel way, illustrate how organisations strive for: institutional legitimacy through acts of coupling, and the revelations of consequential decoupling. The value is based on a rich case description, analysis and application of institutional theory.
Details
Keywords
Leslie Koppenhafer, Kristin Scott, Todd Weaver and Mark Mulder
Service researchers have been tasked with improving the well-being of consumers experiencing vulnerability. The current research aims to demonstrate how these consumers can…
Abstract
Purpose
Service researchers have been tasked with improving the well-being of consumers experiencing vulnerability. The current research aims to demonstrate how these consumers can experience empowerment through transformative service improvements to the traditional microfinance model.
Design/methodology/approach
To ground the research in a real-world setting with consumers experiencing vulnerability, the research team worked with a nonprofit microfinance organization offering loans to communities of Indigenous women entrepreneurs. The research team worked in six communities and conducted over 25 borrower interviews and 14 staff and volunteer interviews totaling 1,200 min of recorded content.
Findings
The present investigation of a unique approach to microfinance offers a new theoretical model, the service empowerment model (SEM), which illustrates how empowerment emanates from processes and outcomes at three distinct levels: micro, meso and macro. Recognizing that change occurs individually and also at familial and societal levels begins to challenge deeply rooted structural and cultural norms involved in the services ecosystem.
Practical implications
Originating from the microfinance service setting, the SEM can be explored, tested and implemented as a pilot program in a variety of service settings that involve transformative service initiatives (e.g. homelessness, refugees, etc.).
Social implications
As society pursues solutions to the pressing problems of consumers experiencing vulnerability, the present research offers critical insights into how services should be designed.
Originality/value
The present research defines a new term, service empowerment, and creates a new theoretical model, the SEM, to aid in improving transformative service initiatives.
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Keywords
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are…
Abstract
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.
Allan H. Church, Christopher T. Rotolo, Alyson Margulies, Matthew J. Del Giudice, Nicole M. Ginther, Rebecca Levine, Jennifer Novakoske and Michael D. Tuller
Organization development is focused on implementing a planned process of positive humanistic change in organizations through the use of social science theory, action research, and…
Abstract
Organization development is focused on implementing a planned process of positive humanistic change in organizations through the use of social science theory, action research, and data-based feedback methods. The role of personality in that change process, however, has historically been ignored or relegated to a limited set of interventions. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a conceptual overview of the linkages between personality and OD, discuss the current state of personality in the field including key trends in talent management, and offer a new multi-level framework for conceptualizing applications of personality for different types of OD efforts. The chapter concludes with implications for research and practice.
Details
Keywords
Kelly Chermack, Erin L. Kelly, Phyllis Moen and Samantha K. Ammons
The purpose of this chapter was to examine the implementation of a flexible work initiative that attempted to challenge two institutionalized precepts of contemporary white-collar…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this chapter was to examine the implementation of a flexible work initiative that attempted to challenge two institutionalized precepts of contemporary white-collar workplaces: the gendered ideal worker norm, with its expectation of the primacy of paid work over family and personal life, and the assumption of managerial control over employees’ schedules and work location.
Methodology/approach
Using ethnographic and interview data, how the Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) was experienced by employees in four different teams within the Best Buy, Co., Inc. corporate headquarters was explored.
Findings
Comparing more and less successful implementation across teams, results suggested that collective institutional work is required for the emergence of new norms, expectations, and legitimated practices. Findings indicated that managers’ task-specific knowledge – their deep experience with the tasks that the team is charged with completing – is a structural condition that facilitates managers’ trust in employees and encourages team experimentation with new practices.
Research limitations
Data for this study was limited to one organization and four teams. Future research should include similar organizational change efforts in other organizations and in larger teams.
Practical/social implications
These findings may promote a better understanding, among researchers and practitioners, of the importance of manager knowledge and background and how this appears to be key to achieving institutional change.
Originality/value
This research is an example of an innovative approach to workplace flexibility and applies an institutional theory lens to investigate variation in the implementation of organizational change.