In the early 1980s, Lucas fell into loss making for the first timein its history, despite being well into a programme of closing 25 plantsand shedding 25,000 people. It faced…
Abstract
In the early 1980s, Lucas fell into loss making for the first time in its history, despite being well into a programme of closing 25 plants and shedding 25,000 people. It faced declining shares of decreasing markets and a vulnerable dependence on the UK automotive industry. By 1988 the group had climbed from loss making to a return on capital expenditure of 25 per cent. The article describes the pivotal role played in the turnaround by an internal consultancy unit set up in 1984. The unit worked on an arm′s‐length trading basis with its client businesses in Lucas. It employed a style which both encouraged client ownership and enhanced client skills. Conclusions are drawn about the learning mechanisms which were established to redevelop core competence and personal comments are added about lessons learned.
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Four well established, successful and expanding UK sensors firms, and six small but ambitious ones (the latter all recipients of DTI SMART Awards) feature in case studies…
Abstract
Four well established, successful and expanding UK sensors firms, and six small but ambitious ones (the latter all recipients of DTI SMART Awards) feature in case studies undertaken with support of the DTI Advanced Sensors Technology Transfer Programme. These studies have two objectives: to pick out some real UK successes, and to encourage the present generation of sensors researchers to consider establishing a new firm around their work. The first four case studies described below cover the following established and expanding firms:
Ghada Altarawneh and Mike Lucas
This paper seeks to explore the reasons for the dominance of Western accounting and neglect of Islamic accounting in Islamic countries, using Jordan as a case study.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to explore the reasons for the dominance of Western accounting and neglect of Islamic accounting in Islamic countries, using Jordan as a case study.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reports the results of a series of interviews, using a semi‐structured questionnaire, with senior members of the accounting regulatory regime in Jordan. The interview data are supplemented by relevant secondary (documentary) data.
Findings
The paper concludes that economic dependency on developed Western nations and their international agencies is the major factor determining accounting policy and practice in Jordan.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitations of this study are the uncertainty concerning the extent to which the respondents' views are representative of accounting policy makers in Jordan, and the inevitable degree of subjectivity involved in evaluating the relative impact of economic dependency and other factors on accounting policy in Jordan.
Originality/value
The paper enhances understanding of the neglect of Islamic accounting in Islamic countries and provides insights into the prospects for and barriers to wider adoption of Islamic accounting in future.
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The purpose of this paper is to offer practical researcher self-care strategies to prepare for and manage the emotions involved in doing organizational ethnographic research…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer practical researcher self-care strategies to prepare for and manage the emotions involved in doing organizational ethnographic research. Institutional ethics policies or research training programs may not provide guidance, yet emotions are an integral part of research, particularly for ethnographers immersed in the field or those working with sensitive topics or vulnerable or marginalized people.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on ethnographic fieldwork over nine months with a voluntary organization in the UK, Yarl’s Wood Befrienders, to explore the experiences and activities of volunteer visitors who offer emotional support to women detained indefinitely in an immigration removal center. The author is a “complete member researcher,” or “at-home ethnographer,” a volunteer visitor and a former detainee.
Findings
The author describes the emotional impact the research personally had on her and shares learning from overcoming “compassion fatigue.” Self-care strategies based on the literature are recommended, such as a researcher self-assessment, identification of the emotional risks of the research, and self-care plan formulated during project planning. Suggested resources and activities to support the well-being of researchers are explored.
Practical implications
This paper provides practical resources for researchers to prepare for and cope with emotional and mental health risks throughout the research process. It builds awareness of safeguarding researchers and supporting them with handling emotional disruptions. Without adequate support, they may be psychologically harmed and lose the potential to critically engage with emotions as data.
Originality/value
The literature on emotions in doing research rarely discusses self-care strategies. This paper offers an actionable plan for researchers to instil emotional and mental well-being into the research design to navigate emotional challenges in the field and build resilience.
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In spite of the recession and its attendant threats to workforce size and union power, a well‐organised union can still influence management and company plans. Though management…
Abstract
In spite of the recession and its attendant threats to workforce size and union power, a well‐organised union can still influence management and company plans. Though management still have a range of policy options, the point of trade union resistance is to force management into accepting options more favourable to workforce interests. A case study outlining a type of factory‐based union organisation which has survived the recession through successfully contesting managerial decisions, draws the conclusion that the central element of such activity's success is that it must be moulded to a broader, less insular, more political view of trade union activity. The evidence supports the argument that steward organisations have largely maintained their position of the 1970s. Union membership and support remains a crucial issue in maintaining union power, and shop stewards must continue to re‐examine ways of involving and informing their members.
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This event, the first sponsored by ISHM, takes place in Pardubice on the 19–20 November 1991. Pardubice is a town of some 100,000 inhabitants about 60 miles east of Prague. A…
Abstract
This event, the first sponsored by ISHM, takes place in Pardubice on the 19–20 November 1991. Pardubice is a town of some 100,000 inhabitants about 60 miles east of Prague. A welcome is extended to all ISHM Chapter members.
B. Waterfield and Geoff Griffiths
At the Annual General Meeting of ISHM‐France, held on 12 June 1991, the following were elected:
The purpose of this paper is to present a part of a research study, undertaken over three years, in which the author observed the organization of an annual, community-based, arts…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a part of a research study, undertaken over three years, in which the author observed the organization of an annual, community-based, arts and crafts festival in rural central Sweden. By examining the participation of a specific village community group in the organization of the festival, this paper sets out to explore links between the practices of organizing and the culture of a community group engaged in them.
Design/methodology/approach
The research study was conducted over three annual cycles of the festival, and its methods reflected the author's position as both a tourist visitor to the festival and a volunteer participant. This paper presents a “thick-description” of the work of a single community volunteer group in the annual organization their village's festival contribution, based on observational and informal interview data from the author's position as a member of that group, and some of the photographic data gathered.
Findings
The account presented in this paper offers an examination of the annual routines of a small village community group in organizing their contribution to the broader multi-site festival event observed in the research study. The introduction of anthropological concepts linked to ritual practices extends the understanding of organizing in this setting.
Originality/value
A contribution to the development of an understanding of organizing in recurring, group-organized event settings through a detailed consideration of a micro-level ethnographic study data.
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The significant development of tripartite arrangements between business, the State and the trade unions is a well‐documented feature of modern industrial relations and economic…
Abstract
The significant development of tripartite arrangements between business, the State and the trade unions is a well‐documented feature of modern industrial relations and economic planning. The “Social Contract” is probably the most overtly political form of collaboration to arise for a number of years. The tripartite arrangements over industrial strategy (Neddies) have been welcomed by many for they provide a forum for theoretically non‐confrontational politics. The instruments available to the State in relation to industrial and economic and employment policies and practices are now legion, but the operation of those instruments seems increasingly to diverge from the original hopes and objectives. The campaign by Lucas Aerospace workers provides an interesting case study in this field.