This paper seeks to examine how organizations can not only survive the effects of a downturn by taking a strategic approach, but also use this opportunity to emerge from uncertain…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to examine how organizations can not only survive the effects of a downturn by taking a strategic approach, but also use this opportunity to emerge from uncertain times leaner, fitter and better able to adapt to new market conditions. The paper includes contributions from Mark Goodridge, CEO, Louise Earle, Jane‐Catherine Hartshorn, Martyn Sakol and Mike Thackray, all at ER Consultants, which specializes in organization behavior change.
Design/methodology/approach
Thie paper draws on research and the experience of ER Consultants in the field to examine how organizations can successfully deal with a downturn and positively approach a reorganization situation.
Findings
The secret is not to fall into the trap of knee‐jerk reorganization. Reorganization can be a wonderful way of creating an illusion of progress while producing only confusion, inefficiency and demoralization. This is not to deny that change is sometimes necessary – it is just that organizations need to be strategic and choose the right architecture. Successful reorganizations require trust that is built on respect and timely communication, as well as energized leaders and strategic responses that eliminate actions based on panic. Successful high performance organizations get through tough times by avoiding laying people off, cutting funding or reducing investment in core parts of the business unless it is absolutely necessary. Instead they are innovative about retaining talent in order to gain competitive advantage when market conditions improve and create an energizing environment.
Originality/value
In a credit crunch environment it can be all too easy for external factors and concerns to drain the positive energy that forms the powerhouse of a successful organization. As recent research has demonstrated, leadership energy can be directly linked to customer satisfaction, absenteeism, turnover, employee energy levels and, therefore, bottom‐line results. The ability to boost energy in the workplace provides significant competitive advantage by helping to retain and motivate staff.
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The greatest challenge for operations managementin the 1990s is the management of thehuman resource. Advanced manufacturingtechnology dictates a style and approach tomanagement…
Abstract
The greatest challenge for operations management in the 1990s is the management of the human resource. Advanced manufacturing technology dictates a style and approach to management unlike most firms′ previous experience. There is a requirement to move from a control to a commitment orientation in the work‐place. The authority and power structures of functional organisations are no longer suitable for advanced manufacturing technology and operations managers will have to manage people on a far more equal basis than hitherto. A primary manufacturing unit will employ fewer and fewer people directly, but the dependence of the organisation on each and every one of those employees will increase dramatically.
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The effective management of advanced manufacturing technology dictates changes in managerial style and approach from a control to a commitment orientation in the workplace.
British operations management should place greater emphasis on maintaining employee relations. Advanced manufacturing systems pose people problems as well as technical problems…
Abstract
British operations management should place greater emphasis on maintaining employee relations. Advanced manufacturing systems pose people problems as well as technical problems. People may have to be managed in a different way to maximise business advantage. Failure to manage people alongside technological development will result in poor financial results and increasing disillusionment of managers and employees with new technology. Key trends in technology, their impact on employment and their subsequent consequences for operations management are considered. New management techniques of Just‐in‐Time (JIT), Quality Circles (QC) and Operation Process Control (OPC) are discussed. The future role of operations management of human resources is discussed and indicates that there is a need to move from a control to a commitment orientation in the workplace.
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Within the legal mobilization framework, sociolegal scholars identify elite support as a key indirect benefit of litigation. Court-centered strategies generate support from…
Abstract
Within the legal mobilization framework, sociolegal scholars identify elite support as a key indirect benefit of litigation. Court-centered strategies generate support from influential state and private actors, and this support helps a movement to achieve its goals. Instead of assuming elite support to be a decidedly positive step in a movement’s trajectory, a more contextual analysis situates elite support as a complex, dynamic factor that movement advocates attempt to manage. Such support may at times create political and legal risks that jeopardize a movement's progress. My analysis of the marriage equality movement suggests a tentative typology with which to approach elite support: Elite support appears generally productive for a movement when it leads to action consistent with the movement's strategy. On the other hand, elite support may pose significant risk when it prompts action inconsistent with the movement's strategic plan, even if it is consistent with the movement's substantive positions.
This study provides a comprehensive framework of adaptation in triadic business relationship settings in the service sector. The framework is based on the industrial network…
Abstract
This study provides a comprehensive framework of adaptation in triadic business relationship settings in the service sector. The framework is based on the industrial network approach (see, e.g., Axelsson & Easton, 1992; Håkansson & Snehota, 1995a). The study describes how adaptations initiate, how they progress, and what the outcomes of these adaptations are. Furthermore, the framework takes into account how adaptations spread in triadic relationship settings. The empirical context is corporate travel management, which is a chain of activities where an industrial enterprise, and its preferred travel agency and service supplier partners combine their resources. The scientific philosophy, on which the knowledge creation is based, is realist ontology. Epistemologically, the study relies on constructionist processes and interpretation. Case studies with in-depth interviews are the main source of data.
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Javier Munguia and Kenny Dalgarno
The purpose of this paper was twofold: first, to determine if rotating bending could be used as an effective way of determining the fatigue behaviour of laser-sintered nylon, and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was twofold: first, to determine if rotating bending could be used as an effective way of determining the fatigue behaviour of laser-sintered nylon, and second, to examine whether the fatigue behaviour of laser-sintered PA12 showed any significant anisotropy.
Design/methodology/approach
Specimens were measured to obtain dimensional accuracy, density and surface roughness levels. Then, uniaxial tensile and rotating-bending fatigue tests were performed. A purpose-built test-jig has been used to subject hourglass-shaped specimens to reversed bending at two frequencies: 50 and 30 Hz. Additionally, thermal and microstructural analyses were performed to understand the underlying mechanisms of failure.
Findings
The experiments suggest PA12 specimens will fail in fatigue following the conventional fatigue mechanisms observed in previous research with ductile polymers. Although high-frequency loading caused a heat build-up in the specimen, temperatures stabilised between 20 and 30°C, suggesting that rotating-bending fatigue at frequencies of up to 50 Hz is a valid way of determining the fatigue behaviour of laser-sintered PA12 specimens. Stresses below 20 MPa led to fatigue lives above 1 million cycles. Some anisotropic behaviour was observed in the fatigue test results, with specimens made orientated with the Z axis showing the lowest fatigue lives on average, but an endurance limit of approximately 15 MPa seems to be common for all specimens regardless of their build orientation.
Practical implications
The observed endurance limit of 15 MPa did not depend significantly on the orientation at which a part was built – meaning that it may be possible to guarantee a service life for a part which does not depend on part orientation within a build. Clearly, good-quality control will also be required to ensure performance, but this has important implications for the design of laser-sintered PA12 parts for realistic service conditions.
Originality/value
To our knowledge, this is the first paper to present rotating-bending fatigue data for laser-sintered PA12 parts, and the first to identify an endurance limit which is independent of part orientation.
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This chapter examines how opponents of same-sex marriage have used rights discourse to construct an identity of themselves as victims, and construct gays and lesbians as deviant…
Abstract
This chapter examines how opponents of same-sex marriage have used rights discourse to construct an identity of themselves as victims, and construct gays and lesbians as deviant “others.” I find that conservative rights discourse has been more effective outside the courtroom than in it. This is because these arguments rely on implicit discriminatory stereotypes which are frequently exposed under the scrutiny of dispassionate judicial actors. However, in a popular arena, they are free to operate with considerably less scrutiny. Here, rights discourse is used to mask discriminatory stereotypes and lend legitimacy to positions that would be rejected if made explicitly.
In this chapter, I suggest that Connecticut’s and other states’ recent discontinuation of civil unions in the name of marriage “equality” marginalizes and demeans marriage �…
Abstract
In this chapter, I suggest that Connecticut’s and other states’ recent discontinuation of civil unions in the name of marriage “equality” marginalizes and demeans marriage – rejecting people who may nonetheless wish to codify their intimate partnerships – for purposes of legal “incidents,” including rights and privileges, like hospital visitation rights, testimonial privilege, inheritance rights, etc. In doing so, I also call for a rejuvenation of the practice of granting civil union licenses in these states.