Attention is now focusing on the use of sophisticated Decision Support Systems (DSS) as an invaluable tool in management decision making. This is a highly sophisticated…
Abstract
Attention is now focusing on the use of sophisticated Decision Support Systems (DSS) as an invaluable tool in management decision making. This is a highly sophisticated, computer‐based information system which comprises a co‐ordinated collection of data models, reporting and analysis tools and supporting hardware and software. These enable an organisation to gather information from its business and the marketplace and turn that data into a basis for action. A particular set of skills and resources, both systems and people‐oriented, are required to implement a DSS. The hardware is universally available and the software is now beginning to appear. Both are becoming increasingly cheaper. This should enable many more companies to exploit decision‐making systems towards more effective management.
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Patricia Fosh, Huw Morris, Roderick Martin, Paul Smith and Roger Undy
This is the second of two linked articles on the question of unionautonomy; the first appeared in the previous issue of this journal. Itconsiders state control and approach to…
Abstract
This is the second of two linked articles on the question of union autonomy; the first appeared in the previous issue of this journal. It considers state control and approach to union autonomy in the wider context of state controls on unions′ bargaining activities including industrial action. Two questions are posed: whether there is any “balance” between state respect for union autonomy and state confidence that union collective bargaining activities take place within a legally prescribed framework; and how the state in the UK was able to shift so rapidly from the traditional, voluntary approach and the incipient neo‐corporatism of the 1970s, to the detailed and onerous regulation of union internal and external activities in the 1980s and 1990s.
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The author argues that we must stop and take a look at what our insistence on human labour as the basis of our society is doing to us, and begin to search for possible…
Abstract
The author argues that we must stop and take a look at what our insistence on human labour as the basis of our society is doing to us, and begin to search for possible alternatives. We need the vision and the courage to aim for the highest level of technology attainable for the widest possible use in both industry and services. We need financial arrangements that will encourage people to invent themselves out of work. Our goal, the article argues, must be the reduction of human labour to the greatest extent possible, to free people for more enjoyable, creative, human activities.
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THE catalogue, as a library appliance of importance, has had more attention devoted to it than, perhaps, any other method or factor of librarianship. Its construction, materials…
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THE catalogue, as a library appliance of importance, has had more attention devoted to it than, perhaps, any other method or factor of librarianship. Its construction, materials, rules for compilation and other aspects have all been considered at great length, and in every conceivable manner, so that little remains for exposition save some points in the policy of the catalogue, and its effects on progress and methods. In the early days of the municipal library movement, when methods were somewhat crude, and hedged round with restrictions of many kinds, the catalogue, even in the primitive form it then assumed, was the only key to the book‐wealth of a library, and as such its value was duly recognized. As time went on, and the vogue of the printed catalogue was consolidated, its importance as an appliance became more and more established, and when the first Newcastle catalogue appeared and received such an unusual amount of journalistic notice, the idea of the printed catalogue as the indispensable library tool was enormously enhanced from that time till quite recently. One undoubted result of this devotion to the catalogue has been to stereotype methods to a great extent, leading in the end to stagnation, and there are places even now where every department of the library is made to revolve round the catalogue. Whether it is altogether wise to subordinate everything in library work to the cult of the catalogue has been questioned by several librarians during the past few years, and it is because there is so much to be said against this policy that the following reflections are submitted.
Hitherto, we have discussed the advisability of issuing a magazine, and have entered with some degree of minuteness into the underlying financial principles; we now have to…
Abstract
Hitherto, we have discussed the advisability of issuing a magazine, and have entered with some degree of minuteness into the underlying financial principles; we now have to consider the arrangement of the contents. So much controversy has raged over the question of classified versus dictionary or alphabetical cataloguing, that it will be unnecessary to recapitulate the pros and cons. On the whole, the classified method has met with most favour, and experience has taught us that it is undoubtedly the better for magazine purposes. In this, we are in accordance with nearly all librarians publishing magazines. Indeed, in magazine work, where as a rule only one entry is given to a book, the alphabetical method is inadequate. It resolves itself into an alphabetical list either under authors' names, or under catchword subjects which is useless in showing the relation of one book to another. A properly classified list—preferably classified according to some recognized systematic scheme—on the other hand, displays the accessions to the library much more effectively, and does fulfil the necessary function just mentioned.
Giorgio Gabrielli, Vincenzo Russo and Andrea Ciceri
The uncertainty of the current economic environment increases the risk of organizational failure. The traditional approach intends the crisis as a phenomenon that can be managed…
Abstract
Purpose
The uncertainty of the current economic environment increases the risk of organizational failure. The traditional approach intends the crisis as a phenomenon that can be managed according to some predetermined and well-defined procedures. Although this traditional approach emphasizes on the technical dimension, it does not take into account that organizational dimension, which instead plays a crucial role in the circumstances of today’s crisis. The purpose of this paper is to investigate which are the most effective organizational practices able to promote an adequate culture prevent or manage effectively crisis situations.
Design/methodology/approach
A group of Italian military and civil opinion leaders took part in the study. Authors hypothesized that the military organizations, being defined as “High Reliability Organization,” have organizational characteristics that allow them to manage crisis situations more effectively, and, for this reason, they can be taken as a reference by civil organizations.
Findings
The results show noticeable differences about organizational attributes concerning the two organizations. According to the results, the military organization has the most appropriate organizational dimensions to prevent and manage the crisis situations.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper lies in the empirical and theoretical framework provided to analyze risk and crisis management, based on the comparison between military and civil organizations. The paper aims to be a starting point from which a positive process of cultural osmosis between the two organizations can be promoted.