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21 – 30 of 227Sages and seers in ancient India specified dharma, artha, kama and moksha as the four ends of a moral and productive life and emphasised the attainment of a proper balance between…
Abstract
Sages and seers in ancient India specified dharma, artha, kama and moksha as the four ends of a moral and productive life and emphasised the attainment of a proper balance between the spiritual health and the material health. However, most of their intellectual energy was directed towards the attainment of moksha, the salvation from birth‐death‐rebirth cycle. Kautilya, on the other hand considered poverty as a living death and concentrated on devising economic policies to achieve salvation from poverty but without compromising with ethical values unless survival of the state was threatened. Kautilya's Arthashastra is unique in emphasising the imperative of economic growth and welfare of all. According to him, if there is no dharma, there is no society. He believed that ethical values pave the way to heaven as well as to prosperity on the earth, that is, have an intrinsic value as well as an instrumental value. He referred the reader to the Vedas and Philosophy for learning moral theory, which sheds light on the distinction between good and bad and moral and immoral actions. He extended the conceptual framework to deal with conflict of interest situations arising from the emerging capitalism. He dedicated his work to Om (symbol of spirituality, God) and Brihaspati and Sukra (political thinkers) implying, perhaps, that his goal was to integrate ethics and economics. It is argued that the level of integration between economics and ethics is significantly higher in Kautilya's Arthashastra than that in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations or for that matter in the writings of Plato and Aristotle.
The purpose of this paper is to provide the structure needed to create an in‐house training program for libraries as a means for improving staff competencies during periods of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide the structure needed to create an in‐house training program for libraries as a means for improving staff competencies during periods of economic problems.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper pulls information from the business environment and gives a human resources perspective on training programs used in companies that also have limited financial means.
Findings
The information and structure provided for development of a training program has had proven results.
Practical implications
This information will require action on the part of libraries interested in gaining this advantage.
Originality/value
These proven methods and steps can increase a library's case when seeking to justify allocation of resources and will add value to the organization as it serves its primary clientele.
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Michael J. Dawes, Ju Hyun Lee and Michael J. Ostwald
In the 1947 article, The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa, Colin Rowe famously compared the spatial and geometric properties of buildings by two architects: Palladio and Le…
Abstract
Purpose
In the 1947 article, The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa, Colin Rowe famously compared the spatial and geometric properties of buildings by two architects: Palladio and Le Corbusier. Many of Rowe's observations in this article have since been extensively debated but not rigorously tested. This paper examines Rowe's proposition that Palladio's villa plans possess greater intelligibility and cellularity than Le Corbusier's villa plans.
Design/methodology/approach
Two established computational techniques, axial line analysis and isovist analysis, are adopted in this paper to quantify and compare the properties of intelligibility and cellularity in the four villas that Rowe used to construct his argument: Malcontenta, Rotunda, Stein, and Savoye.
Findings
While acknowledging methodological limitations, the results of this paper do not support Rowe's claims, but they do lead to a unique quantitative examination of spatial configurations and properties of four famous villa plans.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to quantitatively examine Rowe's claims that Palladian villas possess greater intelligibility and cellularity than Le Corbusier's villas.
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This paper aims to explore the root cause of growing gap in Islamic moral ideals and practices by examining paradigmatic foundation and moral axioms of Islamic business ethics. It…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the root cause of growing gap in Islamic moral ideals and practices by examining paradigmatic foundation and moral axioms of Islamic business ethics. It compares and contrasts Tawhidi and secular paradigms in terms of their moral axioms and ethical mandates.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper first presents the paradigmatic foundation of Islamic ethics, namely, ihsan ethics. Second, it compares Tawhidi paradigm of Islam with secular paradigm in respect to their ontological, axiological, anthropological and teleological differences. Third, it links to Islamic moral axioms to the relevant paradigmatic pillars. Fourth, it defines “ihsan ethics” based on Tawhidi paradigm and moral axioms. Finally, it sheds some light on the gap between moral ideals and realities through the theory of ihsan ethics.
Findings
The paper attempts to provide strong conceptual and theoretical tools to understand ethical problems in the Muslim societies. The paper makes a strong case that Muslim minds shall be de-secularized to perceive the reality, truth and telos within Tawhidi worldview. As Muslims reach the level of ihsan by perceiving transcendental reality, they are likely to practice what they preach.
Originality/value
The paper proposes “ihsan ethics” based on Tawhidi worldview and Islamic moral axioms.
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The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the potential fruitfulness of the theory of Alasdair MacIntyre for understanding how social enterprises may facilitate well-being…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the potential fruitfulness of the theory of Alasdair MacIntyre for understanding how social enterprises may facilitate well-being, using empirical evidence from doctoral research to illustrate this.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on findings from research conducted at a mental health training and employment organisation which used gardening as rehabilitative tool. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews with staff, volunteers and service users were used to generate the data, a MacIntyrean lens used to analyse the data, and some suggestions are made as to why social enterprises may be particularly suited to such an approach.
Findings
Practitioners encouraged the seeking of “internal goods” or “goods of excellence” within practices, as it was this which was understood to facilitate well-being. Service users shared in this view, perceiving their time on the case site primarily as “work” and choosing to engage with the service out of a desire to meaningfully contribute to the community project.
Research limitations/implications
This research is conducted on a small scale and therefore lacks generalisability. The lack of comparison with other organisational forms using the same practice is also a limitation.
Originality/value
This theory offers an alternative lens for considering how social enterprises might contribute to well-being. The data presented here also complement the growing body of research literature on Work Integration Social Enterprises, considering some of the wider well-being benefits beyond work integration, which thus far has received limited empirical attention.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyse how standardisation influences home care work practice.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse how standardisation influences home care work practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a qualitative interview‐based case study from the elderly care sector in a Danish council. The interviews reveal care workers and administrative staffs' interpretation of how the implementation of IT and standards affects their work situation. Findings from the case study are supported by a large‐scale quantitative study regarding organisational transformations in the elderly care sector.
Findings
The paper discusses how standardisation, in the form of implementation of IT‐systems and categorization tools, influences the potential for development of competencies. The findings show that an engaged practice is difficult to maintain when working under circumstances characterized by lack of time and a requirement for standardisation and documentation.
Originality/value
The study provides insight into the divergence between standards and the importance of relying on experience‐based knowledge and value rational skills in relation to care work. The paper stresses the point that standards are necessary to coordinate workflow activities and support decision making. Nevertheless, it is shown that when reification dominates, the degree of standardisation will lend itself to an instrumental practice not supportive of growing competencies within the field of care giving.
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Christoph Küffner, Matthias Kopyto, Annika Judith Wohlleber and Evi Hartmann
COVID-19 has highlighted the need to reflect on how firms should improve their supply chains (SCs) to enhance agility and robustness. Recent studies focus more on the short-term…
Abstract
Purpose
COVID-19 has highlighted the need to reflect on how firms should improve their supply chains (SCs) to enhance agility and robustness. Recent studies focus more on the short-term rather than on the long-term developments and lack insights regarding the enhancement of supply chain resilience (SCRES) based on the interplay between multiple levers. Therefore, using a long-term perspective, this research evaluates the interaction between three SCRES levers – relationships, technologies and organizational structures – to improve SCRES.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on an extensive literature review, multiple interviews and workshops, 13 future projections were developed. These projections were assessed using a two-round Delphi study that included 83 international experts from industry, academia and politics/associations to determine the probability of occurrence by 2035, their impact on SCRES and their desirability.
Findings
This study provides empirical evidence that the long-term enhancement of SCRES is achieved through the interplay of multiple levers rather than unilateral optimization. The study suggests that, by 2035, collaboration between SC partners will be a key factor for SCRES enhancement. Additionally, SC stakeholders should be aware that failing to invest in digital technologies will negatively impact the agility and robustness of future SCs. Furthermore, humans are expected to continue to play a major role, given that relationship-oriented tasks are perceived to remain important.
Originality/value
This paper adds to current literature, describing how SCRES can be improved in the long term through the interplay of multiple levers and the combination of robust and agile elements. Considering the importance of ensuring resilient SCs, this paper provides valuable insights for academics and practitioners.
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The purpose of this paper is to outline the structures of collegial governance in Australian universities between 1945 and the “Dawkins reforms” of the late 1980s. It describes…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to outline the structures of collegial governance in Australian universities between 1945 and the “Dawkins reforms” of the late 1980s. It describes the historical contours of collegial governance in practice, the changes it underwent, and the structural limits within which it was able to operate.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is based upon the writings of academics and university administrators from the period, with more fine-grained exemplification provided by archival and other evidence from Faculties of Arts and their equivalents in newer universities.
Findings
Elements of hierarchy and lateral organisation coexisted in the pre-Dawkins university in ways not generally made explicit in the existing literature. This mixture was sustained by ideals about academic freedom.
Research limitations/implications
By historicising “collegiality” the research problematises polemical uses of the term, either for or against. It also seeks to clarify the distinctiveness of contemporary structures—especially for those with no first-hand experience of the pre-Dawkins university—by demonstrating historical difference without resort to nostalgia.
Originality/value
“Collegiality” is a common concept in education and organisation studies, as well as in critiques of the contemporary corporate university. However, the concept has received little sustained historical investigation. A clearer history of collegial governance is valuable both in its own right and as a conceptually clarifying resource for contemporary analyses of collegiality and managerialism.
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