Using the backdrop of an (apparently) extended visit to the West Indies, analogies with key concerns of internal audit are drawn. An unusual and refreshing way of exploring the…
Abstract
Using the backdrop of an (apparently) extended visit to the West Indies, analogies with key concerns of internal audit are drawn. An unusual and refreshing way of exploring the main themes ‐ a discussion between Bill and Jack on tour in the islands ‐ forms the debate. Explores the concepts of control, necessary procedures, fraud and corruption, supporting systems, creativity and chaos, and building a corporate control facility.
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Using the backdrop of an (apparently) extended visit to the West Indies, analogies with key concerns of internal audit are drawn. An unusual and refreshing way of exploring the…
Abstract
Using the backdrop of an (apparently) extended visit to the West Indies, analogies with key concerns of internal audit are drawn. An unusual and refreshing way of exploring the main themes ‐ a discussion between Bill and Jack on tour in the islands ‐ forms the debate. Explores the concepts of control, necessary procedures, fraud and corruption, supporting systems, creativity and chaos, and building a corporate control facility.
Details
Keywords
Large corporations that don't tolerate contention age prematurely, the author finds. Management's conflict between strategic planning and opportunism, for example, is a healthy…
Great ideas, it has been said, come into the world as gently as doves. Perhaps, then, if we listen attentively, we shall hear, amidst the uproar of nations, a faint flutter of…
Abstract
Great ideas, it has been said, come into the world as gently as doves. Perhaps, then, if we listen attentively, we shall hear, amidst the uproar of nations, a faint flutter of wings, the gentle stirring of life and hope.
Fred Luthans, Michael J. Rubach and Paul Marsnik
The popular total quality management (TQM) approach has tended to focus on internal processes, rather than external issues such as competitiveness and market appeal, and is more…
Abstract
The popular total quality management (TQM) approach has tended to focus on internal processes, rather than external issues such as competitiveness and market appeal, and is more reactive and adaptive than anticipative. The time has come to go beyond TQM and to understand the nature and application of organizational learning. Learning organizations envision change, are committed to generating and transferring new knowledge and innovation, and have learned how to learn. TQM may be embedded in the learning organization, but TQM is but the first step or wave in transforming and creating organizations which continuously expand their abilities to change and shape their futures. This article first defines and identifies the characteristics of a learning organization, then explores some techniques to develop and transform an organization into a learning organization, and finally suggests some traditional and newer techniques, such as data envelopment analysis (DEA), as ways to measure and evaluate organizational learning.
Robert C. Moussetis, Ali Abu Rahma and George Nakos
This paper examined the relationships between national culture and strategic behavior in the banking industry in Jordan and U.S. The study first developed a strategic posture and…
Abstract
This paper examined the relationships between national culture and strategic behavior in the banking industry in Jordan and U.S. The study first developed a strategic posture and secondly a cultural profile for the top management of the research domain. The strategic posture suggested the readiness for strategic response from managers. The degree of readiness was correlated with the constructed cultural profile of the managers and financial performance of the banks. The study found significant relationships between certain national cultural strategic characteristics, (risk propensity, time orientation, and openness to change, uncertainty avoidance and managerial perception of control over the environment) strategic behavior and financial performance.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore if six sigma and lean are new methods, or if they are repackaged versions of previously popular methods – total quality management (TQM…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore if six sigma and lean are new methods, or if they are repackaged versions of previously popular methods – total quality management (TQM) and just‐in‐time (JIT).
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a critical comparison of lean with JIT and six sigma with TQM, a study of the measure of the publication frequency – the number of academic articles published every year of the previous 30 years – for each topic, and a review of critical success factors (CSF) for change efforts.
Findings
The more recent concepts of lean and six sigma have mainly replaced – but not necessarily added to – the concepts of JIT and TQM. lean and six sigma are essentially repackaged versions of the former, and the methods seem to follow the fad (product) life cycle. The literature offers fairly similar and rather general CSF for these methods, e.g. top management support and the importance of communication and information. What seems to be missing, however, is the need for a systemic approach to organizational change and improvement.
Practical implications
A prediction is, given the fad or product life cycle phenomenon, that there will be a new method promoted soon, something perhaps already experienced with the borderline preposterous concept of lean six sigma. On the other hand, based on the gap in time between both JIT and lean, and TQM and six sigma – a gap filled by BRP/reengineering – the next method will be process oriented. This paper concludes with the discussion of the need for a process‐based approach to organizational improvement efforts.
Originality/value
This paper is of value in that it analyzes what lessons can be learnt from organizational change and improvement efforts. The analysis includes a comparison of CSF for any change project before discussing the need for a process (systems) perspective for successful organizational improvement efforts.
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Yau Tsai and Sue Beverton
The purpose of this paper is to explore the strengths and weaknesses of top‐down management in a university that has embraced globalisation with a strong market‐led ethos and to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the strengths and weaknesses of top‐down management in a university that has embraced globalisation with a strong market‐led ethos and to suggest the ways in which adjustments might be made to top‐down management processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of top‐down management by drawing upon relevant literature and further explores its related problems through a case study of a department in the universities of one country.
Findings
Several studies have concluded that top‐down management through its exercise of direct power is still a preferable means of reducing the chaos resulting from teachers caught up in de‐stabilising and confusing change processes. In the current globalisation context, it is also concluded that the success of top‐down management is predicated upon a willingness or readiness of the faculty to allow it to exist.
Research limitations/implications
Although this paper explores the strengths and weaknesses simply through literature, it provides a case study to understand the problems with top‐down management in higher education. The case study illustrates some of the issues that may or may not be proved by ensuing or larger‐scale research to be generalisable, but for the specifics of this case the issues discussed would appear to be important.
Originality/value
This paper recognizes the importance of top‐down management to higher education in the global society and sheds light on how to make top‐down management more efficient in higher education.
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Elisabeth C. Marlow, Ksenia Chmutina and Andrew Dainty
Conceptual interpretations of sustainability and resilience are widening with discursive use and altering the relationship and understanding of both concepts. By using three city…
Abstract
Purpose
Conceptual interpretations of sustainability and resilience are widening with discursive use and altering the relationship and understanding of both concepts. By using three city case studies in the USA, this paper aims to consider which conceptual interpretations are operational and what is being measured in the context of city policy, municipal planning and built environment practice. With increasing pressures of urbanisation, it is imperative to consider which conceptual interpretations of resilience and sustainability are being measured in frameworks for the built environment if Risk-Informed Sustainable Development across multiple sectors is to be delivered.
Design/methodology/approach
Three case studies with semi-structured interviews have been thematically analysed to explore how sustainability and resilience have been operationalised at policy, planning and practice levels.
Findings
City policies, municipal planning and practitioners are working with different interpretations. Collectively Risk Informed Sustainable Development is not formally recognised. Policies recognise GHG reductions and natural hazard events; planning guidance stipulates Environmental Impact Assessments based on legal requirements; and practitioners consider passive-survivability and systematic thinking. Across the sectors, the Leadership in Environmental and Energy Assessment Method provides a common foundation but is used with varying requirements.
Practical implications
Decision-makers should incorporate risk-informed sustainable development, update codes of practice and legal requirements leading to exemplary practice becoming normalised.
Social implications
Passive-survivability should be affordable and adopt risk-informed sustainable development principles.
Originality/value
Three US city case studies with data collected from interviews have been analysed simultaneously at policy, planning and practice levels. Interrelated implications have been outlined on how to improve decision-making of sustainability and resilience across sectors.