This article explodes traditional notions of ethnographic documentary, and instead positions the emerging practice of ethnocinema as a 21st century modality that falls within the…
Abstract
This article explodes traditional notions of ethnographic documentary, and instead positions the emerging practice of ethnocinema as a 21st century modality that falls within the paradigm of what Denzin calls the ‘eighth moment scholarship’ in this ‘fractured future’. Drawing on the monological, dialogic and imagistic ‘data’ from the ethnocinematic research project Cross‐Marked: Sudanese Australian Young Women Talk Education, the article uses ethnographic documentary film theory (including Minh‐ha, Rouch, and Aufderheide) and the critical pedagogical scholarship of McLaren to examine notions of performative identity construction and the possibility of intercultural identities and collaborations. Utilising the central metaphor of Minh‐ha’s ethnographic and filmic ‘zoo’, which cages those who are Othered by race, class, gender, sexuality and a myriad of differences, this article and ethnocinema overall seek to overthrow notions of difference, culture and community while recognising the increasingly prescient power of McLuhan’s dictum that the ‘medium is the message’ in this rhizomatic age.
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Examines what thinkers have said about the nature of play, in particular its value to adults, and its relation to happiness and goals. Shows how play is natural to the digital…
Abstract
Examines what thinkers have said about the nature of play, in particular its value to adults, and its relation to happiness and goals. Shows how play is natural to the digital generation, as back packers travelling around the world. Cites the pronouncements of writers like philosophers Jean‐Paul Sartre and Aristotle, psychologists George Butterworth and Margaret Harris, and Pat Kane (in “The Play Ethic”). Contrasts traditional attitudes towards play as being something of no cultural value, plus the views that play is “a separate activity” (Lev Semeonivich Vygotsky) and “pure waste” (Meyer Barash) with the view of Johan Huizinga that culture derives from play. Explores the views of Mihaly Csikszmenmiahlyi, who investigated the nature of enjoyment as an optimal experience based on the concept of flow. Moves onto the Policies Studies Institute study which sees fun as something which jobs can offer instead of security and promotion, and notes the use of fun items as part of companies’ competitive stance, for instance Virgin Airways’ computer games in each airline seat. Concludes with the “No Logo” radicals who subvert billboards and advertising through use of the Internet and street protests.
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Steven B. Moser and Mary L. Nicholson
While most nonprofit organisations provide guidelines to be followed by their governing bodies in terms of responsibilities and duties, implementation of these guidelines is often…
Abstract
While most nonprofit organisations provide guidelines to be followed by their governing bodies in terms of responsibilities and duties, implementation of these guidelines is often problematic (Harris, 1989; Herman & Heimovics, 1991). The board of trustees of the non‐profit organisation has one responsibility: to keep the organisation on a straight course for the long term good of the whole; that is, to see that the organisation fulfils its mission (Zander, 1993). But evidence suggests that this description is more straightforward than actual practice would suggest.
Margaret Harris, Colin Chisholm and George Burns
The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual viewpoint which proposes the use of the post graduate Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) approach to learning in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual viewpoint which proposes the use of the post graduate Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) approach to learning in undergraduate education and practice‐based training.
Design/methodology/approach
This is an examination of the KTP approach and how this could be used effectively in undergraduate education and training to encourage and increase practice‐based learning and employer engagement. The methodology consists of a literature review, and a case study of the KTP approach. The literature reviewed examines the KTP approach, employer engagement in education and strategic government approaches to stimulate investment in knowledge and skills for workforce development, and the development of practice‐based learning in the UK. The KTP provides a case study to illustrate a successful model of employer engagement, which benefits all parties to it, and assists with the strategic development required by successive governments.
Findings
The suggestions are based on the authors’ investigation and their understanding and experience of: the KTP approach; practice‐based learning; undergraduate education; and learning and teaching approaches. The paper suggests that the KTP approach (normally a post‐graduate model) could be extended to undergraduate education to provide sustainable practice‐based learning that fits well with the strategies and ideologies of government, employers and academia.
Practical implications
Barriers to employer and academic engagement, such as that linked to the confused terminology used to describe practice‐based learning, and competing political ideologies, should be researched further to gain a better understanding of how to mitigate these in order to make the KTP approach in undergraduate education successful. The implications are that synergistic development of the KTP approach in an increased range of academic and workplace partnerships needs to be done before a fully tested model could be agreed.
Originality/value
The originality is the idea of utilising a well acknowledged post‐graduate model of learning within an undergraduate environment. The value is to increase the awareness of the benefits of the KTP and how the approach could be adapted for use in undergraduate environments for the eventual benefit of students, academics, employers and policy makers.
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Jane Andrews, Helen Cameron and Margaret Harris
This paper aims to examine the usefulness of organizational change theory for management practice.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the usefulness of organizational change theory for management practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors present an exploratory, empirical study of managers who were taught organizational change theory as part of a postgraduate degree. Building on the study findings, they analyse managers' subsequent experiences of organizational change; of how they use change theory in practice and the impact on their practice of their earlier formal study.
Findings
The paper finds that the complexities of managing change in practice reflect distinctive organizational environments and cultures. The skills and knowledge which managers found most useful were those that enabled them to “make sense” of the organizational change they subsequently experienced. The main impact of their earlier studies was to prompt informative, discursive and reflective approaches to change management.
Practical implications
The paper discusses the implications for future teaching of organizational change and the development of organizational change theory.
Originality/value
The qualitative findings of the study add to, and help to explain, earlier research findings on the questions of how managers' experience change, how they use organizational change theory and its impact on their practice.
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No one working at a library reference desk needs to be convinced of the importance of indexes to local newspapers. With the tremendous interest in genealogy and local history…
Abstract
No one working at a library reference desk needs to be convinced of the importance of indexes to local newspapers. With the tremendous interest in genealogy and local history, both public and academic librarians are inundated with questions easily answered if a local newspaper index is available.
Kirk C. Heriot, Noel D. Campbell and R. Zachary Finney
This article argues that existing research poorly specifies the link between planning and performance because of omitted variable bias. Researchers agree planning is a critical…
Abstract
This article argues that existing research poorly specifies the link between planning and performance because of omitted variable bias. Researchers agree planning is a critical part of creating any new venture. Many researchers assess planning by whether a small firm has a written business plan. Unfortunately, efforts empirically to validate this relationship have been inconclusive. This article proposes that researchers should assess business plans both on the quality of the plan (and the planning process that produced it), and on the quality of the underlying business opportunity. Failure to account for both aspects of a business plan amounts to omitted variable bias, frustrating attempts to accurately estimate the true relationship.