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1 – 10 of 285The knowledge that human rationality is itself an area of active inquiry should be a sobering thought for those who confidently peddle simple remedies to contemporary managerial…
Abstract
The knowledge that human rationality is itself an area of active inquiry should be a sobering thought for those who confidently peddle simple remedies to contemporary managerial, political and economic concerns. Yet mainstream strategic management, as a body of theory and practices, has so far absorbed only a few of the elements of the rapidly evolving general theory of rationality.
Alan E. Singer and Muhittin Oral
The potential for new insight from inter‐discipiinary research in strategic management research has been widely acknowledged (e.g., Pennings, 1985; Linstone, 1984; Meyer, 1984;…
Abstract
The potential for new insight from inter‐discipiinary research in strategic management research has been widely acknowledged (e.g., Pennings, 1985; Linstone, 1984; Meyer, 1984; Jemison, 1981). Jemison (1981) has commented particularly on the importance of exploring the interactions among “…problems found in the content of strategy and problems found in the processes of formulating and implementing strategy…”. More recently, Ackoff (1987) has advocated research that addresses the problem of the “interaction of strategic behaviour with the configuration and dynamics of the organisation.”
There are wide variations in the extent to which investment decisions are taken on the basis of formal financial analysis since many factors that should mediate interpretations of…
Abstract
There are wide variations in the extent to which investment decisions are taken on the basis of formal financial analysis since many factors that should mediate interpretations of “bottom‐up financial analyses” (BUFAs) do not, due to omissions or other informational deficiencies in the analyses. Organisational design influences the provision of information regarding the various factors in the investment decision. A model of investment decision making that emphasises organisational contexts may provide a useful point of departure for the design of effective and comprehensive investment decision support systems. An analysis is made of mediating factors which are then classified as to whether or not they can be accounted for in principle in an ideal BUFA.
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Muhittin Oral and Alan E. Singer
The traditional approach to strategic planning at the level of the firm, involving targets for profitability, quantitative forecasts, gap‐closing strategic‐moves (cost reduction…
Abstract
The traditional approach to strategic planning at the level of the firm, involving targets for profitability, quantitative forecasts, gap‐closing strategic‐moves (cost reduction, strategic investments etc.) and finally implementation or resource‐ deployment, has often been criticised on both practical and philosophical grounds. Perhaps one of the best known critiques of this conventional approach is the article by Hayes (1985). He suggests that competent strategic management of the firm in today's competitive environment in fact involves a complete reversal of the underlying “goals‐ways‐means” sequence of traditional planning, so that the principle task of strategic managers now becomes first the creation of a competent organisation (i.e. means) in which the fullest possible potential of all resources is realised. Only then, it is argued, can a coherent strategy (ways) and strategic vision (ends) really emerge in practice.
The importance of reversibility criteria is discussed and existing measures described. A procedure for calculating a Bailout‐Portfolio‐Funding Index is set out and its advantages…
Abstract
The importance of reversibility criteria is discussed and existing measures described. A procedure for calculating a Bailout‐Portfolio‐Funding Index is set out and its advantages and limitations are analysed.
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This paper aims to explore how the model of participative leadership may operate in the context of partnership with internal stakeholders. By linking the moral claims of an…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how the model of participative leadership may operate in the context of partnership with internal stakeholders. By linking the moral claims of an organization's employees to CSR strategies, an organization can strengthen emotional bonds with its key stakeholders, and create deeper, longer‐lasting relationships that translate to increased support, loyalty and a sense of stakeholder ownership.
Design/methodology/approach
Although there are many definitions of leadership, none of them is universally agreed‐upon. The paper reviews different approaches and paradigms of leadership and the role of ethical values in leading responsible organizations. The effective and ethical leadership and the critical role of employees' participation in implementing corporate responsibility agenda are analyzed.
Findings
Corporate responsibility strategy will succeed only if employees recognize that this strategy creates value for them as well. In recent times participative leadership is at the center of an important shift in a corporate world increasingly moving away from traditional top‐down leadership to more decentralized models based on ethical values shared by all stakeholders.
Research limitations/implications
Only a small portion of the existing literature on responsible leadership in the context of CSR reports of studies using longitudinal or empirical designs. Further research should focus on the relationship between different leadership paradigms and corporate social performance.
Practical implications
Moral motives carry greater weight in determining the total “CSR motivation” held by each employee, so employees will seek to work for, remain in, and get attached to organizations whose organizational strategies are consistent with their moral values. An ethical infrastructure based on the proper leadership model is critical in the process of adopting responsibility‐based practices throughout organization.
Originality/value
This paper intends to conceptualize the linkage between ethical values of the employees and the type of leadership enhancing implementation of corporate responsibility strategy. Recent discussions among academics and practitioners are showing that effective CSR should be understood more as a process, through which individuals' moral values and concerns are articulated.
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Alan G. Futerman and Walter E. Block
This study aims to offer a critique of the theory of the deterioration in terms of trade, developed by Raúl Prebisch and Hans Singer.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to offer a critique of the theory of the deterioration in terms of trade, developed by Raúl Prebisch and Hans Singer.
Design/methodology/approach
As an example of the theory’s shortcomings, the case of Argentina’s import substitution model is analyzed.
Findings
This study demonstrates how a misunderstanding of the influence of price variability in international trade may lead to the mistaken conclusion that protectionist measures must be enforced to achieve growth and prosperity.
Originality/value
This is the first study that criticizes the Prebisch-Singer theory of the deterioration in the terms of trade from an Austrian economics.
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A story that Robert told in class during this research exposes the tension of simultaneously studying literacy and identity when submission and control are also processes at work…
Abstract
A story that Robert told in class during this research exposes the tension of simultaneously studying literacy and identity when submission and control are also processes at work in the story. There are two pieces of this story. In the first part of the story, Robert relates the narrative. The second part consists of the details of the story he told. Both pieces can be used to illustrate different elements of the tension between studying literacy and identity as a single construct labeled literate identity. In addition to suggesting a metaphor for literacy and identity, Robert's story navigates the constructs of submission and control that Wong (2008) discusses in terms of the aesthetic of motivation. The tension between submission and control when coupled with an exploration of literacy and identity has implications for the notions of resistance to literacy in the field of boys' literacy as well as the being and doing of literacy for the boys in this study.Our class began with the students congratulating Robert on his storytelling. When I inquired further, I found out that Robert had started to tell the legend of Cupid and Psyche in a previous class, but he had run out of time. The rest of the students expressed interest in hearing the story, either for the first time, or to know the end. Initially, his telling ebbed and flowed. He apologized for his lack of fluency and explained he was trying to provide us the parts of the story we would find the most interesting. Eventually he settled into a rhythm and finished 50 minutes later. (Reconstructed field note, December 2009)
Ming Singer, Alan Singer and Chris Bruhns
The notions of procedural justice and factor analysis have beenapplied to the identification of the key criteria for fair managerialselection. The subjects were 87 personnel…
Abstract
The notions of procedural justice and factor analysis have been applied to the identification of the key criteria for fair managerial selection. The subjects were 87 personnel professionals in New Zealand. A second study used a videotaped interview design and showed that two job‐relevant criteria (work experience and academic qualification) identified in the first study as determinants of fair selection, were not utilised consistently by manager interviewers in their selection decision making.
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SIR ALAN HERBERT SUGGESTS TWO‐PENCE A certain liveliness has been created in the past month by the re‐appearance of the “Lending Rights” idea, which in one way or another has…
Abstract
SIR ALAN HERBERT SUGGESTS TWO‐PENCE A certain liveliness has been created in the past month by the re‐appearance of the “Lending Rights” idea, which in one way or another has pursued public libraries almost from their beginnings. It is an idea with which most authors, though not all, must feel sympathy, since it is by the sale of their books that many authors live. Why, they contend, should authors, alone among creative workers, receive only the sale royalties of their books—there are of course other rights but the statement is true in this connection—while the player, composer, dramatist, singer, player actor, and all creators of public entertainment and recorders of it have the Performing Rights Act, which assures them that they receive for every public performance of their work their due royalty and thus an income large or small according to their success.