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41 – 48 of 48For many, quality circles have been a struggle, total quality management has been something to “get around to one day” and continuous improvement has just been another…
Abstract
For many, quality circles have been a struggle, total quality management has been something to “get around to one day” and continuous improvement has just been another expression meaning total quality management, which, of course is something that we will “get around to one day”. Worse, the acronyms used ‐ QC, TQM, CI ‐ have joined such exotic practices as JIT (just‐in‐time inventory), CAD‐CAM (computer‐aided development and manufacturing) and more recently BPR (business process re‐engineering) in an alphabet soup of consultant‐led packages, available to the discerning manager ‐ at a price.
1916, the most difficult year in the history of the library movement, has passed not without some satisfaction to library workers. The war dominated everything, and in its…
Abstract
1916, the most difficult year in the history of the library movement, has passed not without some satisfaction to library workers. The war dominated everything, and in its atmosphere most intellectual movements have paused somewhat so far as practical activities were concerned. At the end of the financial year in March, the voice of the Philistine was prominent and strident, and many reductions were made in the rate grants to public libraries. Few, however, did more than cripple their activities, and on the whole a fair measure of public sanity prevailed. In the circumstances the wider progress of the library movement has been small, but there has been progress. Unostentatiously, but systematically, the Carnegie Trustees have urged rural library schemes upon several county councils, and have made grants to urban libraries for new buildings, the erection of which, however, they have required to be postponed until the peace. The tercentenary of Shakespeare found librarians and library authorities awake and interested, and much good work was done. Towards the end of the year commercial libraries were discussed with remarkable unanimity in most of the great cities, and actually materialised in the fine experiment at Glasgow described in our last issue. In so far as librarians are concerned, the year has been eventful for the calling away of nearly all remaining men of military age. In connection with this the military authorities in many districts have shown a complete indifference to the intellectual requirements of the people. It is difficult to say how many library workers are now with the Colours, but six hundred would be a very conservative estimate. Some, alas, of the most promising men in the profession have fallen. An endeavour is being made by the Library Assistants' Association to preserve a record of all who have gone forth for the Empire. Naturally, library appointments have been few, and most of those that have been made have been of a temporary nature. On the literary side, too, librarianship has been practically sterile in this country. The book by Messrs. Gower, Jast and Topley, on photographic record work is a remarkable exception, but is not entirely a book of library methodology. America has not produced very much, but we noted a useful book by Mr. Arthur L. Bailey on library bookbinding, which appeared in the middle of the year. Throughout the year the Library Association has pursued a policy of masterly inactivity, and has missed most of the opportunities for constructive schemes which war time has offered. Its general meetings were abandoned in London, its Council has met irregularly, and it has eluded practically every problem which it ought to have faced. We have been consistently critical of this state of affairs, but we still believe in the Library Association, and our criticism, however trenchant, has not been to destroy but to revivify and accelerate. We do not think that librarians can do without the Association, and in all our attacks upon its stagnation we have kept this view clearly before us. The President of the Association, while condoning the suspension of the general meetings, has generously filled the gap made by their omission with the interesting reunions at the Royal Society of Medicine. Hope of better things has been raised by the belated establishment of the Technical Libraries Committee, to which we look for a forward and aggressive policy. The Library Assistants' Association has wisely refused to follow the example of its seniors. The few monthly meetings it has held have been intensely practical and focussed upon the problems of the hour. We hope they will continue in spite of the increased railway fares which in the new year have added difficulty to travelling. The establishment of the North Central Library Association provided an immensely important part of England with a means of creating and circulating library opinion. This brief chronique of the doings of the year leaves us hopeful if not contented. Financial and staff problems are likely to increase while the war endures, but having surmounted these and our other difficulties thus far, we look forward with confidence to similar success.
Research on Latina administrative leadership, education, professional development, employment, and retention is limited in the literature. The majority of researchs on…
Abstract
Research on Latina administrative leadership, education, professional development, employment, and retention is limited in the literature. The majority of researchs on Latinas have been conducted in public schools with superintendents and in community colleges with faculty and administrators. Research shows that there are statistically fewer Latina faculty and administrators in higher education than other female ethnic minorities (de los Santos & Vega, 2008). The chapter focuses on Latina presidents and chancellors at Hispanic-serving institutions in the United States excluding Puerto Rico.
Sahar E-Vahdati, Norhayah Zulkifli and Zarina Zakaria
The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the literature on corporate governance and sustainability integration in identifying the main rigidity, infirmity and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the literature on corporate governance and sustainability integration in identifying the main rigidity, infirmity and gaps in the current literature, and also to mention future research paths.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review of existing international papers is used through quantitative and qualitative approach by selecting 27 articles published in Scopus.
Findings
The review suggests although integration of governance into sustainability is interpreted differently in a geographical area, vision, mission and leadership are the most significant drivers of sustainability framework dealing corporate governance. Despite the limitation which is related to the choice of number and type of keywords and journals, outcomes and the interpretation, generalization and application of results, sustainability frameworks suggest a number of avenues for investors, policy makers and future market scenario which will increase the efficiency of companies.
Research limitations/implications
This research uses limited number of reviews by the common features of Scopus search as previous studies. This review study reflects corporate governance to sustainability models and provides opportunities to researchers for a more in-depth investigation into the theoretical advancement and joint work of sustainability and corporate governance which better inform strategies and implementations of governmental structures.
Originality/value
This paper undertakes a significant thorough systematic review for sustainability integration with corporate governance literature. It gives a written work review and reference index from1995 to 2017, useful for both academics and professionals.
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Keywords
Dennis Hwang, Blair Staley, Ying Te Chen and Jyh‐Shan Lan
The purpose of this paper is to use survey data to examine the impact of culture on current and future accounting and auditing professionals' intent to be whistle‐blowers…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use survey data to examine the impact of culture on current and future accounting and auditing professionals' intent to be whistle‐blowers in a Chinese cultural society.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper examines intent to whistle‐blow and factors influencing whistle‐blowing, using survey data collected by the authors.
Findings
It was found that a majority of respondents believe that a general sense of morality was the most important factor to encourage whistle‐blowing, with abiding by the policy of their organization as the second; it was also found that guanxi, fear of retaliation, and fear of media coverage may discourage whistle‐blowing in a Chinese society.
Research limitations/implications
The data are all from Confucian societies, which perhaps limits its usefulness elsewhere.
Practical implications
The paper will help auditors, accountants, and policy makers to design policies that encourage whistle‐blowing.
Originality/value
The paper uses original survey data collected by the authors, and the analysis will enable policy makers and professional accountants to anticipate and predict whistle‐blowing, a key factor in improving financial management and reporting, and possibly undermining auditor independence, audit quality, and the quality of financial reporting.
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Keywords
Complexity science may be described as a feminine science because it demands holistic thinking, something that women are generally better at than men. A total of 50 women…
Abstract
Complexity science may be described as a feminine science because it demands holistic thinking, something that women are generally better at than men. A total of 50 women leaders in the USA, Canada, Australia, and the UK were interviewed, women who displayed what is called “third possibility leadership”, that is they were able to hold masculine and feminine values and behaviors in dynamic balance. Finds that they displayed characteristics in common: they were “paradoxical”, they gathered people together, they were “wholistic” thinkers, and they displayed well‐developed “relational intelligence”. Although they were effective leaders, their style of leadership was often invisible, and even demeaned, for socio‐cultural reasons.
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Jennifer Anne de Vries and Marieke van den Brink
Translating the well-established theory of the gendered organization into strategic interventions that build more gender equitable organizations has proven to be…
Abstract
Purpose
Translating the well-established theory of the gendered organization into strategic interventions that build more gender equitable organizations has proven to be difficult. The authors introduce the emergence of the “bifocal approach” and its subsequent development and examine the potential of the “bifocal approach” as a feminist intervention strategy and an alternative means of countering gender inequalities in organizations. While pre-existing transformative interventions focus on more immediately apparent structural change, the focus begins with the development of individuals. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Developed through iterative cycling between theory and practice, the “bifocal approach” links the existing focus on women’s development with a focus on transformative organizational change. The bifocal approach deliberately begins with the organization’s current way of understanding gender in order to build towards frame-breaking transformative change.
Findings
The authors show how the bifocal is able to overcome some of the main difficulties of earlier transformative approaches, maintaining organizational access, partnership building, sustaining a gender focus and ultimately sustaining the change effort itself. The bifocal approach seeks structural change, however, the change effort rests with individuals. The development of individuals, as conceived within the bifocal approach was designed to create a “small wins” ripple effect, linking individual (agency) and organizational change (structure).
Practical implications
The bifocal approach offers a comprehensive re-modelling of traditional interventions for other scholars and practitioners to build on. Organizational interventions previously categorized as “fixing women” could be re-examined for their capacity to provide the foundation for transformative change.
Originality/value
The contribution of this paper lies in proposing and examining the bifocal approach as a feminist intervention strategy that overcomes the dualism between the existing frames of organizations and the transformative frame of scholars, in order to move practice and theory forward.
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