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Case study
Publication date: 24 April 2024

Jared D. Harris, Samuel L. Slover, Bradley R. Agle, George W. Romney, Jenny Mead and Jimmy Scoville

In early 2014, recent Stanford University graduate Tyler Shultz was in a quandary. He had been working at Theranos, a blood-diagnostic company founded by Elizabeth Holmes, a…

Abstract

In early 2014, recent Stanford University graduate Tyler Shultz was in a quandary. He had been working at Theranos, a blood-diagnostic company founded by Elizabeth Holmes, a Stanford-dropout wunderkind, for almost a year. Shultz had learned enough about the company to realize that its practices and the efficacy of its much-touted finger-prick blood-testing technology were questionable and that the company was going to great lengths to hide this fact from the public and from regulators.

Theranos and Holmes were Silicon Valley darlings, enjoying positive press and lavish attention from potential investors and technology titans alike. Just as companies like PayPal had revolutionized the stagnant payments industry and Uber had upended the for-hire transportation sector, Theranos had been positioned as the latest technology firm to substantially disrupt yet another mature sector: the medical laboratory business. By the start of 2014, the company had raised more than $400 million in funding, and had an estimated market valuation of $9 billion.

Shultz's situation was exacerbated by the fact that his grandfather, the highly respected former US Secretary of State George Shultz, was on the Theranos board and was one of Elizabeth Holmes's biggest supporters.

But Tyler Shultz worried about the customers he was convinced were receiving highly unreliable and often inaccurate blood-test results. With so much at stake, Shultz wondered how he should proceed. Should he raise his concerns with the firm's investors? Blow the whistle externally? Report to industry regulators? Go away quietly?

This case and its subsequent four brief follow-up cases are based largely on interviews with Tyler Shultz, and outline the dilemma he faced and the various steps he would take both to extricate himself from his unsavory position and let the public know the full extent of the deception at Theranos.

Five optional handouts are available to instructors to further discussion after the case has been debriefed. The handouts serve as additional decision points for the students if your class time permits.

Article
Publication date: 30 May 2024

Robyn Barnacle, Denise Cuthbert, Leul Tadesse Sidelil, Nicola Henry, Kay Latham and Ceridwen Spark

Despite some recent progress, gender inequality remains a persistent problem in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) organisations. This article…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite some recent progress, gender inequality remains a persistent problem in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) organisations. This article seeks to better understand resistance to gender equality (GE) in this context with the aim of shedding light on the workplace-based impediments to equality and unlocking remediation opportunities.

Design/methodology/approach

The article draws on in-depth interviews with 20 STEMM leaders to examine how they talk about the problem of gender inequality in the organisations they lead. Because resistance is rarely expressed directly, we adopt an in-depth, granular approach to examining what we call STEMM leaders’ “resistance talk” by decoding expressions of GE resistance that may appear, ostensibly, as something else.

Findings

We found various ideas, arguments and other discursive practices which function to legitimate or justify the status quo. These are both described by leaders in relation to what they are dealing with in their own organisations and expressed themselves. While similar “legitimating discourses” operate in other gender-segregated workplaces, our findings show how they manifest specifically in STEMM contexts.

Originality/value

Our results provide much-needed granular level evidence of the discursive tactics deployed to legitimate the status quo and obstruct progress toward GE in STEMM. This extends understanding of barriers to GE in STEMM and, importantly, highlights where attention might be directed to both counter resistance and harness potentially changing attitudes to expedite the necessary change required for GE in STEMM.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 October 2023

Hao Chen, Jianming Jiang, Liang Wang, Zihan Zhang and Jiaying Bao

The purpose of this study is to reveal the mechanism of humble leadership inducing abusive supervision from the low-status compensation perspective, examining the mediation role…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to reveal the mechanism of humble leadership inducing abusive supervision from the low-status compensation perspective, examining the mediation role of leader perceived thread to status. Besides, the moderation effect of regulatory focus on the mediation path is discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducted a three-wave longitudinal survey. The data was collected from 438 leaders and their employees in five Chinese enterprises. This study used Mplus 7.4 and adopted a bootstrapping technique for data analysis.

Findings

Humble leadership has a positive effect on leader perceived threat to status. Leader perceived threat to status plays a mediation role between humble leadership and leader abusive supervision. Leader regulatory focus is the “gate valve” that humble leadership fosters leader abusive supervision. That is, when the leader promotion focus is high, leader perceived threat to status bred by humble leadership is low, resulting in less abusive supervision. When the leader prevention focus is high, humble leadership brings relatively more abusive supervision through perceived threat to status.

Originality/value

This study explores why humble leadership breeds abusive supervision behaviors and reveals the mechanism behind the negative effect of humble leadership based on low-status compensation theory. This study not only promotes the continuous development of the field of humble leadership research through empirical research but also provides guidance for effectively suppressing the negative effects of humble leadership, promoting strengths and avoiding weaknesses and suppressing inappropriate management behaviors in management practice.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 35 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 February 2024

Feifei Han

In order to better optimize the internal management system of book publishing and to cope with the changes in the external market environment, the purpose of this paper is to…

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Abstract

Purpose

In order to better optimize the internal management system of book publishing and to cope with the changes in the external market environment, the purpose of this paper is to carry out cross-border publishing with the help of a transmedia storytelling model to realize the transformation and upgrading of the industry. Focusing on the relationship between the book publishing transmedia storytelling model and business performance, the moderating effect of the innovation environment on different variables is assessed.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes several feasible hypotheses based on existing research. The research data came from 365 managers of Chinese book publishing organizations, and the scale was validated by Cronbach’s a, composite reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE). Reliability and validity were verified, and correlation and regression analyses were used to test the impact of the book publishing transmedia storytelling model on business performance and to analyze the moderating role of the innovation environment.

Findings

The results show that the book publishing transmedia storytelling model (content production, technology integration, organizational innovation, marketing integration) helps to improve business performance (market performance, financial performance), and the innovation environment has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between the book publishing transmedia storytelling model and business performance, which provides a guarantee for the transformation and upgrading of book publishing. The market information reflected in the innovation environment has a certain role in promoting the innovation and business performance of the book publishing transmedia storytelling model.

Research limitations/implications

The empirical evidence provides a theoretical link between the book publishing transmedia storytelling model and business performance, but there are still some shortcomings, and more factors, such as equity structure, government subsidies and research and development investment, should be included in future research. In addition, the scope of the research should be broadened on this basis to make the results of the data analysis more objective.

Practical implications

This paper introduces the transmedia storytelling model and deeply analyzes the relationship between the book publishing transmedia storytelling model and business performance, which is of great practical significance for optimizing the application and service quality of book publishing, prolonging the industrial chain, enhancing the interaction and participation of users and perfecting the business management system of the book publishing industry.

Originality/value

The application and research of the book publishing transmedia storytelling model are imperfect. Therefore, this paper not only helps to promote the innovation of book publishing organizational structure and improve the management system of business performance, but also may help to improve the innovation environment of book publishing enterprises and promote the diversification of industrial structure.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 37 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 September 2023

Sigmund A. Wagner-Tsukamoto

This paper aims to offer a new history of management by tracing a religious dimension of scientific management. The thesis is that the good was foundational for bringing…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to offer a new history of management by tracing a religious dimension of scientific management. The thesis is that the good was foundational for bringing scientific management to success in Taylor’s native Quaker Philadelphia in the 1880s. The paper’s main contribution is to contrast the philosophical origins of Taylor’s ideas in scientific management to his native Quaker roots, and how Taylor, over time, into the 1910s, wrestled with this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is situated in historical interpretivism and subjectivism, leaning on contextual and narrative research on religious morality.

Findings

Quaker morality prevented managerial opportunism at Taylor’s Midvale Steel in the 1880s. Conversely, by the 1900s and 1910s, interest conflicts between workers and managers escalated when scientific management moved out of its traditional cultural contexts of Quaker Philadelphia and spread across the USA. The historical implication is, already for Taylor’s time, that scientific management never was the “one-best way” of management.

Research limitations/implications

Future research needs to deepen and broaden research on scientific management when tracing the significance of religion and culture in management thought.

Practical implications

The paper has implications for modern studies of business morality by uncovering the practical relevance of religious business ethics at the outset of management studies.

Social implications

The historic emergence of scientific management points to a theory of institutional evolution and economic growth, when religiously grounded governance of the firm deinstitutionalized, and institutional economic governance, with different but superior economic advantages, progressed by the 1900s.

Originality/value

The paper suggests an alternative version of the intellectual heritage of management studies by tracing the legacy of Taylor’s Quakerism and how religious and cultural ideas contributed to the formation of science in management.

Article
Publication date: 19 March 2024

Andrew Wooff

This paper explores the challenging nexus of police custody, risk and intra-organisational boundaries in the context of a recently reformed national police service. Police custody…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores the challenging nexus of police custody, risk and intra-organisational boundaries in the context of a recently reformed national police service. Police custody is an often-hidden aspect of policing, away from the public gaze and scrutiny. Although there is increasing recognition of the importance of rural policing (e.g. Harkness (2020); Mawby and Yarwood (2011); Ruddell and Jones (2020); Yarwood and Wooff (2016)), there has been little or no focus on rural police custody. This paper seeks to begin to redress this by focussing on the challenges faced by rural police custody in the context of large-scale organisational change.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on data from a study funded by the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (2016–2018), entitled “Measuring Risk and Efficiency in Police Custody in Scotland”. The paper adopts a qualitative methodology to develop an understanding of the varying nature of police custody across Scotland. Two contrasting case study locations were selected, one urban and one rural. 12 semi-structured interviews and 15 hours of observation were carried out. Data was transcribed, coded and analysed and thematic analysis enabled themes to be developed. This paper draws on the data from the rural custody suite.

Findings

Drawing on the theoretical framework of Giacomantonio (2014) and more recent considerations of abstract policing Terpstra et al. (2019), this paper offers insights into the ways that police custody in rural Scotland has been organised, against the backdrop of challenging organisational change. I argue that as policing services in Scotland have become increasingly “abstract” from communities, police custody as a national division has witnessed the impact of this more greatly than other parts of local policing. Intra-organisational management around staffing has led to complex management of risk, illustrating some of the challenges of national organisational change on police custody.

Originality/value

This paper focuses on the impact of large scale organisational change on rural police custody and intra-organisational relationships and dynamics. Rural policing is still a largely neglected area of study and rural police custody is even less understood. This paper therefore provides an original contribution by focusing on this under-researched area of policing. It also illustrates complexity around risk, staffing and management of people being held in rural police custody suites. It is therefore of value to policing scholars in other contexts, as well as rural criminology more generally. It has applicability to international contexts where macro level policing reform is occurring.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 47 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 March 2024

Zeba Khanam, Zebran Khan, Mohd Arwab and Ariba Khan

The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which organizational justice (OJ) mediates between responsible leadership (RL) and employee turnover intention (TI).

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which organizational justice (OJ) mediates between responsible leadership (RL) and employee turnover intention (TI).

Design/methodology/approach

Both online and offline questionnaire was used to collect the data from 387 Indian health-care employees, and the data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with the help of SmartPLS 4.

Findings

The study’s findings demonstrated a significant positive association between RL and OJ and a negative association between OJ and employee TI. Furthermore, results also confirmed the mediating role of OJ between RI and TI.

Research limitations/implications

The generalizability of the study‘s data collection is limited because it is based on the responses of Indian health-care sector employees to an online and offline survey. The authors propose that the health-care sector uses RL as an approach that takes a broad view of the parties with a stake and focuses on creating fairness in acts and justice at the workplace to address the major issue of employee turnover.

Originality/value

This study expanded on previous research by demonstrating that the influence of responsible leadership on employee TI is mediated by OJ in the context of India’s health-care sector. It also contributes to the literature regarding RI, OJ and TI. The study also enriched the body of knowledge about using the PLS-SEM approach to predict employee TI.

Details

Leadership in Health Services, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1879

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 June 2024

Fayrene Chieng, Chai Lee Goi, Jie Min Ho and Ka Yii Yip

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a career management program embedded within a business module, with a specific focus on enhancing the employability…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a career management program embedded within a business module, with a specific focus on enhancing the employability of students.

Design/methodology/approach

The study involved five one-hour workshops based on the DOTS model, covering aspects like resume writing and professional communication. Surveys, using a structured questionnaire and a Likert scale, measured participants' perceived employability. The pre-survey included demographic details, while the post-survey evaluated the effectiveness of the Career development learning workshop. Incentives and QR codes were employed to boost participation, and data were collected at the semester's start and end, with responses linked through students' phone numbers.

Findings

The results confirmed a positive connection between the perceived effectiveness of skill programs and students' employability. Integration of career management into the curriculum cultivates a heightened professional mindset and boosts employability. Validation through a paired-samples t-test demonstrates a substantial increase in perceived employability after program participation, affirming the program's role in fostering psychosocial empowerment and elevating students' confidence in job seeking.

Originality/value

This pioneering research integrates a career management program into a business module, addressing employability challenges in Industry 4.0. It provides empirical evidence of the program's positive impact on students' perceived employability.

Details

Education + Training, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 May 2024

Kenesha Johnson

This paper aims to address weight-based bullying as a persistent issue among adolescents. Fat phobia, rooted in societal biases against overweight individuals, leads to social…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to address weight-based bullying as a persistent issue among adolescents. Fat phobia, rooted in societal biases against overweight individuals, leads to social exclusion and discrimination, negatively impacting mental health and equality. Educational settings suffer from the profound effects of fat phobia, creating a toxic atmosphere that distracts from learning and marginalizes students who don't conform to traditional physical norms.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper combines historical analysis, literature review and critical discourse analysis. It examines the historical roots of fat phobia, explores the impact of societal influences, analyzes contemporary educational practices and the use of popular culture as a innovative tool.

Findings

Leveraging popular culture in anti-fat phobia education effectively challenges stereotypes. Educators empower students to critically analyze media depictions, encouraging empathy and inclusivity. Current events serve as critical teaching tools, sparking discussions on intersecting discrimination forms and equity.

Practical implications

This paper emphasizes the urgent need to comprehensively address fat phobia in education, advocating for a shift in societal attitudes toward body diversity. Popular culture can serve as an educational tool to create inclusive classrooms where all students are valued and free from weight-based discrimination.

Social implications

This paper emphasizes the urgent need to comprehensively address fat phobia in education, advocating for a shift in societal attitudes toward body diversity. Popular culture can serve as an educational tool to create inclusive classrooms where all students are valued and free from weight-based discrimination.

Originality/value

The originality and value of this paper lie in its multi-faceted approach to examining weight-based discrimination, its historical context, practical educational strategies, and the innovative use of popular culture as a tool for promoting inclusivity and empathy.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

Case study
Publication date: 11 September 2023

Fadoua Tahari and Khadija Al Arkoubi

This case was based on secondary data that included various websites, news and academic articles, social media posts and press conferences before, during and after the World Cup…

Abstract

Research methodology

This case was based on secondary data that included various websites, news and academic articles, social media posts and press conferences before, during and after the World Cup. Multiple sources were examined to ensure the accuracy and credibility of the information presented in this case. The goal was to gather relevant information on the Moroccan soccer team, its performance in the FIFA World Cup and the leadership strategies used by Walid Regragui.

Case overview/synopsis

“We are the dreamers, we let it happen: Morocco’s soccer team leadership story” explores the transformative journey of Morocco’s soccer team in the 2022 World Cup, highlighting the exceptional leadership of coach Walid Regragui and the power of shared values deeply rooted in Moroccan culture. The instructional manual provides faculty with a compelling case study to inspire discussions on leadership, followership, team dynamics and cultural identity. The case emphasizes the importance of harnessing cultural roots, building trust and unity within a diverse team, strategic vision and tactical brilliance. It demonstrates that with authentic leadership, belief in shared dreams and the strength of cultural values, extraordinary achievements can be realized. The case aims to inspire and educate students, encouraging them to embrace their own cultural heritage, foster teamwork and pursue their dreams with unwavering determination.

Complexity/academic level

The academic level of this case can vary depending on the specific course or program in which it is being used. It is suitable for graduate levels in various fields such as leadership studies, sports management, organizational behavior, cultural studies, or international business. The case provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership, team dynamics and cultural identity, including faith and spirituality, making it adaptable for different academic levels and disciplines. Instructors can adjust the depth of analysis and additional readings or activities to align with the specific educational level and learning objectives of their course.

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