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Will Hutton, Judy Clements and Bob Sang
Will Hutton is chief executive of The Work Foundation, an independent, not for dividend research‐based consultancy that is an influential voice on work, workplace and employment…
Abstract
Will Hutton is chief executive of The Work Foundation, an independent, not for dividend research‐based consultancy that is an influential voice on work, workplace and employment issues in Britain. Will began his career as a stockbroker and investment analyst, before working in BBC TV and radio as a producer and reporter. Prior to joining The Work Foundation, Will spent four years as editor in chief of The Observer.Will has written several best‐selling economic books including The World We're In, The State We're In, The State to Come, The Stakeholding Society, On The Edge with Anthony Giddens and The Writing on the Wall. In addition, he won the Political Journalist of the Year award in 1993. Other roles that Will performs outside The Work Foundation include: Governor of the London School of Economics; Honorary Fellow, Mansfield College, Oxford; Visiting Professor, Manchester University Business School and Bristol University. He is also a member of the Scott Trust and a Fellow of the Sunningdale Institute.
Sachithra Kumari Jayasundara, Sajith Siriwardana and Withanage Dushan Chaminda Jayawickrama
The social transformation of “disadvantaged segments of society” requires an in-depth understanding of their behavioural reactions in different social contexts. To this end, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The social transformation of “disadvantaged segments of society” requires an in-depth understanding of their behavioural reactions in different social contexts. To this end, the present study focuses on individuals who become vulnerable owing to their functional illiteracy in an “English”-dominant marketplace. Thus, the purpose of this study is to understand the sources of stress as perceived by functionally illiterate individuals and the mechanisms adopted by them to manage such stress when making “high-involvement” product purchases. Insights gained from the study would be beneficial for developing efficacious support programs for vulnerable populations.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 bottom-of-the-pyramid individuals living in slums and housing schemes located in and around Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka.
Findings
Two sources of perceived stress and five coping strategies were derived from the thematic analysis of the data. Participants highlighted the sources of their perceived stress as possible loss of resources and possible loss of self-esteem. Further, the participants were found to adopt several mechanisms to cope with the state of their stress and vulnerability experienced within English-dominant shopping environments, namely, seeking help from salespeople, continuing to shop at the same store, shopping with companions, “convenience purchasing” and buying only well-known brands.
Originality/value
These insights into the vulnerability, stress and coping mechanisms as experienced by functionally illiterate consumers will allow for the design of efficacious interventions to empower vulnerable populations.
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Ian Lawson and Brian Cox
This article follows on from the interview with Will Hutton in the December 2009 issue of The International Journal of Leadership in Public Services (Davison, 2009) to give a more…
Abstract
This article follows on from the interview with Will Hutton in the December 2009 issue of The International Journal of Leadership in Public Services (Davison, 2009) to give a more detailed outline of the results of Exceeding Expectation: The principles of outstanding leadership, a major piece of research undertaken by The Work Foundation and to explore the implications of this for the public sector.
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The last winter meeting for the 1960–1 season will be held at 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday 9th May at the Royal Aeronautical Society, 4 Hamilton Place, London, W1. Sir Frank Francis…
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The last winter meeting for the 1960–1 season will be held at 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday 9th May at the Royal Aeronautical Society, 4 Hamilton Place, London, W1. Sir Frank Francis, Director of the British Museum, and Professor R. S. Hutton will speak about the proposed National Reference Library of Science and Invention as envisaged in a symposium published in the Journal of Documentation, vol. 17, no. 1, March 1961.
Suggests that current advice on how to achieve, maintain or improve organisational effectiveness is flawed in certain respects: there is a lack of clarity as to what…
Abstract
Suggests that current advice on how to achieve, maintain or improve organisational effectiveness is flawed in certain respects: there is a lack of clarity as to what organisational “effectiveness” is; there is a tendency to assume that all organisations operate in the same unpredictable and dynamic environment; it is assumed that the proffered panaceas suit all organisations irrespective of size, purpose, mode of ownership or industry; and though some management gurus acknowledge that there may be some drawbacks to their prescriptions, they tend to see this as an unavoidable consequence of pursuing effectiveness. Conversely, this article argues that as there is no universal definition of organisational effectiveness, there can be no universal recipe for achieving it; organisations operating under the same conditions may adopt different approaches and still be successful. Organisations have a wide degree of choice in the priorities they set and the approaches they use to achieve these. Just as the fate of individual organisations cannot be divorced from the host society in which they operate, the reverse is also true.
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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and situate globalization within the context of different theoretical perspectives, with a view to developing a theoretical framework for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and situate globalization within the context of different theoretical perspectives, with a view to developing a theoretical framework for understanding and interpreting this phenomenon.
Design/methodology/approach
In the light of historical and empirical evidence, this paper uses the idea of parallax to explore, synthesize and interpret globalization. Evidence is marshalled in order to enable comparative assessments on the merits of the globalized system to take place.
Findings
A materialist approach is identified as appropriate for aiding and deepening our understanding of the processes at work. It best captures the complexities and contradictions in the global economy.
Originality/value
This paper develops a critique that locates globalization within the process of accumulation and teases out its attendant crises and efforts to restore profitability. The materialist approach developed here may be successfully applied in a holistic manner.
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This study focuses on the historical and cultural contexts surrounding Kuwait’s education system and the government’s efforts to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Primary and…
Abstract
This study focuses on the historical and cultural contexts surrounding Kuwait’s education system and the government’s efforts to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Primary and secondary sources and research in policy borrowing provide context to the problem of systemic change of an education system in a country that is trying to prepare its youth with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century. The commitment to improvement is evident, but the question is whether the political, professional, and popular determination is enough to implement the changes into the system and internalize them for sustainable reform. A case can be made that repeated efforts at policy borrowing that resulted in failure to internalize reforms can be used as the impetus for real and sustainable change.