Examining the way that individuals adapt to job change is one of the central aims of this paper.
Abstract
Purpose
Examining the way that individuals adapt to job change is one of the central aims of this paper.
Design/methodology/approach
The factors and processes relating to job loss and outplacement among managers in the UK are examined and compared through identifying trends and cross‐sectional differences in managerial job losses among different industries, companies and individuals. This is undertaken by means of a questionnaire followed up by face‐to‐face interviews or telephone interviews using a semi‐structured questionnaire with analysis.
Findings
The evidence demonstrates that individuals generally are extremely conservative and tend to stick to what they know rather than take the risk of the unknown or untried. What is perhaps more significant, is that 47 per cent of those that obtained work in the same field were in the age group 40‐49 whereas only 31 per cent of the 50‐59 age group were employed in the same field.
Practical implications
More generally, the research underpinning this paper provides insights into the demographics of managerial job loss. It analyses the redundancy process over time; distinguishes between the transition from secure to insecure employment and from insecure to equally insecure employment and ascertains trends over a five‐year period; examines the extent to which managers lose the ability to plan and control their lives and attempts to link this to their individual predisposition and finally determines how managers are likely to respond or operate in a new employment environment.
Originality/value
The research makes use of totally new and original material drawn from the experience of people change careers with outplacement support from two of the leading outplacement companies in the UK.
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This paper seeks to explore the process of change and in particular the nature of complex adaptive change by exploring whether Beer and Nohria's findings that organisational…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to explore the process of change and in particular the nature of complex adaptive change by exploring whether Beer and Nohria's findings that organisational change was rarely successful was corroborated by examining the experience of organisations in the UK. It aims to explore whether organisations do have an inability to learn from experience and whether there was any validity in Argyris and Schon's view that organisations found it hard to adapt because they built in special systems and defences that prevented them from learning and questioning their basic beliefs and assumptions.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach adopted used a questionnaire to establish some insights into the dynamics of change by examining: what the major drivers of organisational change were; what the expectations of senior managers were to the change programmes they had introduced in response to the change drivers; what was actually achieved and did it meet their objectives when embarking upon the change; whether they got what they hoped for when embarking upon the change programme and if so why they thought they were successful; if they did not get what they expected or were only partially successful, why did they think this was; and finally to consider with the wisdom of hindsight, what they would do differently.
Findings
The evidence seems to indicate that where the circumstances are right change can work provided the necessary conditions are met: sound pre‐planning; objectives of the change process aligned with organisational objectives; commitment from the top of the organisation to ensure that resources were available to manage the change effectively; commutations – explaining why the change was necessary; participation; applied project management; taking a measured approach to the roll out of the change programme; and progress monitoring of results using the balanced scorecard.
Research limitations/implications
The sample group responding to the questionnaire was relatively small and so no statistically valid conclusions are drawn but nevertheless the responses received were rich in qualitative material.
Practical implications
Given the context of a rapidly changing climate, organisations are increasingly addressing such issues as preparing for change, senior management commitment and changing the culture of an organisation and in such circumstances the necessary conditions for change to be successful should have practical relevance to any organisation embarking on a change programme.
Originality/value
This paper describes original research material in a well documented area and so adds to the canon of literature on the subject of change.
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Changes in the environment in which organisations operate have a marked effect on how they behave, how they perform and even on their survival. Such changes force organisations to…
Abstract
Changes in the environment in which organisations operate have a marked effect on how they behave, how they perform and even on their survival. Such changes force organisations to adapt by reengineering, restructuring, changing the focus or location of their production or to downsize, each of which have led to a number of significant changes in the way that work is organised. Over time it has been possible to detect a number of trends and the impact they have both on the individuals affected by those changes and the organisations themselves. The effects of breaking the "psychological contract" are explored in terms of individual attitudes and behaviour as are the methods employed by organisations to take account of the organisational changes they are facing and the way they manage their workforces. This is the first of two articles by the author on the issue of organisational and individual adaptation; the second on organisational transitions will appear in a future issue.
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The received wisdom is that team working is a good thing and is spoken about positively as a means of promoting co‐operation and of making the best use of employees' strengths…
Abstract
Purpose
The received wisdom is that team working is a good thing and is spoken about positively as a means of promoting co‐operation and of making the best use of employees' strengths. This article seeks to examine why this may be and to address the four areas highlighted by ACAS where improvements are made, i.e. productivity, quality, the use of new technology, and motivation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper explores here in the light of the current organisational environment.
Findings
The study outlines the lessons learned in introducing teamwork, the need for managerial commitment, the changes in culture that can be promoted by team working and how to go about planning for change.
Originality/value
The paper presents a practical and realistic view. This is the first of two articles on the subject. The second will deal with the issues of establishing and running teams.
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This is the second of two articles on teamwork which aim to deals with the selection and formation of teams, team leadership, team roles and team development.
Abstract
Purpose
This is the second of two articles on teamwork which aim to deals with the selection and formation of teams, team leadership, team roles and team development.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper builds on the first article which covered such issues as the reasons for moving to team working for improving performance, improving quality and encouraging innovation, promoting and exploiting technological advances and as a means of improving motivation. The article also looks at how teams are chosen and developed. Best practice as outlined by the UK Advisory, conciliation and arbitration service (ACAS) is used together with the personal experience of the author.
Findings
The first thing to recognize is that organizations will be at different points in their evolution in team working terms. Teams that need to work within and across an organization such as sales, marketing, purchasing, personnel and finance find that team working fosters a collaborative rather than a competitive or adversarial approach. It is vital that teams must be capable of doing the job for which they have been selected and this clearly implies that the membership should include people able to contribute towards the completion of task.
Originality/value
It is important that management, trade unions and employees ensure they know how team working will contribute to their business strategy and that it is likely to involve a long‐term transformation.
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This paper seeks to explore the concept of adaptive change. It aims to examine the literature on the subject and draw out some of the key lessons to be considered when seeking to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to explore the concept of adaptive change. It aims to examine the literature on the subject and draw out some of the key lessons to be considered when seeking to manage change within an evolving world of work and it seeks to shed light on the increasing practice for the use of emergent strategies in companies during change programmes.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper examines the literature on the subject of adaptive change and draws out some of the key lessons to be considered when seeking to manage change within an evolving world of work.
Findings
It would be convenient to think that change is planned, a deliberate process, a product of conscious reasoning and actions and as such a rational outcome of a clear cause and effect process. However, change often occurs in an apparently spontaneous and unplanned or emergent way. When managers make decisions that are apparently unrelated to the original intention they tend to be based on unspoken, and sometimes unconscious, assumptions about the organisations, its environment and the future and are, therefore, not as unrelated as they may seem at first. Such implicit assumptions dictate the direction of seemingly disparate and unrelated decisions, thereby shaping the change process by “drift” rather than “design”. Such changes may reflect the unconscious scanning of the managerial landscape associated with changes in political and socio‐economic environments, market conditions, competition, customer expectations and the impact of technology.
Research limitations/implications
The body of literature on change is being added to constantly and therefore there are limitations as to the extent of the literature that it has been possible to include within this paper.
Practical implications
The paper sheds light on the increasing practice for the use of emergent strategies in companies during change programmes.
Originality/value
Little is new since the paper reviews existing literature on the subject.
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This is the second article dealing with the changing nature of work, the previous one having been published in Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 35 No. 5. This deals with…
Abstract
This is the second article dealing with the changing nature of work, the previous one having been published in Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 35 No. 5. This deals with the managerial responsibilities for managing an organisation through a change process to maintain current levels of performance and to move towards the desired future state through dealing with the people issues involved in the change programme. It covers the issues of coping with change and uncertainty, the role of managers at times of change, motivating teams through the change process, anticipating problems and planning ways of handling them.
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The key characteristics that eventually came to be considered to be Australian ‘heavy metal’ emerged between 1965 and 1973. These include distortion, power, intensity, extremity…
Abstract
The key characteristics that eventually came to be considered to be Australian ‘heavy metal’ emerged between 1965 and 1973. These include distortion, power, intensity, extremity, loudness and aggression. This exploration of the origins of heavy metal in Australia focusses on the key acts which provided its domestic musical foundations, and investigates how the music was informed by its early, alcohol-fuelled early audiences, sites of performance, media and record shops. Melbourne-based rock guitar hero Lobby Loyde’s classical music influence and technological innovations were important catalysts in the ‘heaviness’ that would typify Australian proto-metal in the 1960s. By the early 1970s, loud and heavy rock was firmly established as a driving force of the emerging pub rock scene. Extreme volume heavy rock was taken to the masses was Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs in the early 1970s whose triumphant headline performance at the 1972 Sunbury Pop Festival then established them as the most popular band in the nation. These underpinnings were consolidated by three bands: Sydney’s primal heavy prog-rockers Buffalo (Australia’s counterpart to Britain’s Black Sabbath), Loyde’s defiant Coloured Balls and the highly influential AC/DC, who successfully crystallised heavy Australian rock in a global context. This chapter explores how the archaeological foundations for Australian metal are the product of domestic conditions and sensibilities enmeshed in overlapping global trends. In doing so, it also considers how Australian metal is entrenched in localised musical contexts which are subject to the circulation of international flows of music and ideas.