Wei Wang, Shoujian Zhang and Andrew Philip King
The engineering construction standards in China play an important role in protecting the safety of the construction projects. They are the basic principles that standardize the…
Abstract
Purpose
The engineering construction standards in China play an important role in protecting the safety of the construction projects. They are the basic principles that standardize the construction activities and guarantee the quality of projects. However, there are many barriers that affect the adoption of the engineering construction standards. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the barriers that challenge the adoption of the engineering construction standards in China.
Design/methodology/approach
The research reveals the barriers that affect the implementation of the engineering construction standards in China through a literature review. Then this study uses factor analysis to analyze 12 indices which we get from a questionnaire to build explanations from the results.
Findings
According to this paper, four main brands of uncorrelated variables are derived which are the main challenges in implementing the engineering construction standards in China: management barriers, policy barriers, knowledge barriers and market barriers. This paper gives a clear classification of the barriers that the enterprises face while adopting the engineering construction standards in China.
Originality/value
This paper makes a contribution to the understanding of the barriers that affect the adoption of the engineering construction standards in China.
Details
Keywords
Before Philip King sold his five bookstores in Christchurch roughly 10 years ago to Whitcoulls, a large Australian-owned bookstore and office supplies operation, he hardly fancied…
Abstract
Before Philip King sold his five bookstores in Christchurch roughly 10 years ago to Whitcoulls, a large Australian-owned bookstore and office supplies operation, he hardly fancied himself as an entrepreneur. Books were his passion: He loved to read. However, his first job was selling barbeque charcoal to New Zealand℉s South Island residents.
The purpose of this paper is to explore human issues within subordinate and leader interaction and guide police leaders in how they can achieve success. Although focussed on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore human issues within subordinate and leader interaction and guide police leaders in how they can achieve success. Although focussed on uniformed services, leaders from all areas will find the arguments presented here useful.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on a number of catastrophic case studies, including the collision of two war ships, two Jumbo Jets, the defeat of the Spanish Armarda and the failure of Hitler’s military to respond effectively to the D-Day landings. It will examine work by Rittel and Webber (1973) and Grint (2005), who propose different styles of leadership for different problems.
Findings
The paper will find that humans are inherently obedient and reluctant obedient, reluctant to challenge authority and introduces the concept of blind obedience into police leadership. A distinction will be drawn between commanding in critical situations, which are rare, and leading in routine situations; the paper will conclude that to lead the police service through the turbulent times ahead, police leaders must be on guard against blind obedience and create an environment where subordinates have a voice and will be heard. The paper also finds that “micro-management” from a remote location is ineffective and that staff must be afforded time and space to undertake tasks and that strategic leaders must allow their subordinates, at the tactical and operational levels, freedom to act with the overall strategy; the paper recommends leaders adopt a mission command approach.
Originality/value
The paper will contribute to understanding how subordinates and leaders interact and will be of value to all who lead, particularly in structured organisations like the police, where rank plays a factor in establishing a strict hierarchy. It introduces the concept of blind obedience into police leadership and warns that police leaders, and indeed leaders in all hierarchal organisations, must be on constant guard against it.
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Hannah King occupies a unique place in missionary and colonial history, the history of education, cross‐cultural relations and material culture in New Zealand. She was the only…
Abstract
Hannah King occupies a unique place in missionary and colonial history, the history of education, cross‐cultural relations and material culture in New Zealand. She was the only woman from the first 1814 Missionary settlement of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in New Zealand to remain in New Zealand for the rest of her life, yet she does not have an entry in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, and is rarely indexed in either New Zealand’s general historical works or even works more specifically related to the Missionary era. John and Hannah King were one of three artisan missionary couples who sailed with the Revd Samuel Marsden on his ship, the missionary brig ‘Active’, from Port Jackson, Australia to Rangihoua, in the Bay of Islands, in late 1814. Marsden’s 1814 Christmas Day service on the beach at Rangihoua is recognised as the beginning of missionary activity and planned European settlement on New Zealand soil.
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WHILE MIGUEL DE CERNANTES SAAVEDRA languished as a guest of King Philip of Spain in a small noisome cell of the Madrid prison, he had time to do two things. He wrote each day at a…
Abstract
WHILE MIGUEL DE CERNANTES SAAVEDRA languished as a guest of King Philip of Spain in a small noisome cell of the Madrid prison, he had time to do two things. He wrote each day at a rickety table with the quill and parchment he had bribed his jailer to supply. His manuscript concerned an old gentleman farmer, grey, lean, and weatherbeaten—like Cervantes himself, then fifty‐six—who had read so many books about chivalry that ‘his brain had dried up and he had gone completely out of his mind’. The old man was obsessed that he must leave his farm and ride out as the knights of old had done into a world of giants, maidens in distress and deep enchantment. Nearly four hundred years later the name of the old knight‐errant is still world famous, for Cervantes chose with care the name of his run‐down hero, Don Quixote. (Cervantes spelt it Quijote.)
Joshua Woods and Vladimir Shlapentokh
This article investigates the possibility of studying modern organizations with the feudal model. We introduce feudalism as an ideal type and explain why it is necessary for…
Abstract
This article investigates the possibility of studying modern organizations with the feudal model. We introduce feudalism as an ideal type and explain why it is necessary for understanding organizations. The model synthesizes several perspectives on intra-organizational conflict. After defining the feudal model and tracing its theoretical roots, we review several empirical studies to identify the conditions under which feudal conflicts arise. These factors include decentralization, structural interdependence, uncertainty and informal power. The feudal model highlights several overlooked aspects of organizations, including personal relations, the manipulation of formal rules, bribery, corruption and sabotage. However, given the model's limitations, we propose a “segmented approach” to social analysis, which emphasizes the need for multiple models to explain any organization, past or present.
The purpose of this paper is to describe a comparative study of two novels dealing with the life, feats and death of Alexander the Great: the winner of the 2007 Arabic Booker…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe a comparative study of two novels dealing with the life, feats and death of Alexander the Great: the winner of the 2007 Arabic Booker Prize Wahat Al‐Ghoroub (Sunset Oasis) (2007) by Egyptian writer Bahaa Taher and Alexander: The Sands of Ammon (1998), Part II of a trilogy by Italian historian, journalist, novelist and archaeologist Valerio Massimo Manfredi. The paper highlights the similarities and differences between both fictional works as it addresses the different narrative styles, character portrayals and thematic concerns presented in both works.
Design/methodology/approach
An analytical reading of the narrative techniques and literary elements of the two novels.
Findings
The paper finds that the two works share similarities as far as historical facts, major thematic concerns and character portrayals are concerned.
Originality/value
This is the first comparative study and thorough analysis dealing with the two literary works.