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Article
Publication date: 2 October 2019

Mikko Värttö

The purpose of this paper is to examine deliberation in the context of organizational change and introduce an organizational jury as a change facilitator.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine deliberation in the context of organizational change and introduce an organizational jury as a change facilitator.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is based on an empirical study of four organizational juries that were organized by a non-profit organization in Finland. The main data of the study consist of a survey that the juries’ participants filled in. The data are triangulated with observations of jury meetings and relevant documents including pre-jury information package, jury presentations and juries’ proposals. In the analysis, the paper adopts deliberative democracy criteria to assess the inclusiveness, authenticity and consequentiality of the deliberative process.

Findings

The research findings suggest that the juries increased the inclusiveness of decision making and the quality of deliberation about the changes among the employees. The results indicate that juries facilitated the change process by providing a means for information sharing and building a shared understanding among the stakeholders. The main weakness of the juries was their low consequentiality.

Originality/value

Deliberative jury method provides a participative way to build and preserve socially shared meanings in an organizational change context. However, the studies on the use of deliberative forums in the organizational context are still scarce. Thus, the study provides an important addition to the existing research literature.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 40 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 March 2020

Patturaja Selvaraj and Jerome Joseph

Extant literature shows that employee voice has ambiguous effects on organizational outcome. Especially because employee voice challenges the status quo, it can attract…

Abstract

Purpose

Extant literature shows that employee voice has ambiguous effects on organizational outcome. Especially because employee voice challenges the status quo, it can attract retaliation and lead to silencing of the employee. Thus, rather than producing change, employee voice can lead to increase in workplace tensions. On the other hand, employee voice also has positive consequences such as building a partnership-based culture between supervisors and employees. The purpose of this article is to reconcile these contradictory findings by reinforcing voice as having a deliberative dimension which fosters a harmonious dialogue around workplace issues.

Design/methodology/approach

We surveyed 628 managers working in organizations across different industrial relations contexts in India. Managers working in different sectors were chosen so that we could examine the consequences of employee voice across contexts with differing trade union strengths. We adopted a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach to test the effect of employee voice on environment for innovation.

Findings

We find that trust in senior management and relationship between employees and their supervising managers mediate the relationship between employee voice and environment for innovation. The findings in the article do reconcile an important dilemma about employee voice. Earlier studies have argued that employee voice is a mechanism for engaging with the dissatisfaction that employees may have in their workplaces. Our study indicates that when deliberative elements are incorporated into employee voice it is no longer merely a means for addressing dissatisfaction but constructively contributes to positive organizational outcomes such as environment for innovation.

Research limitations/implications

The effects of employee voice on environment for innovation can be understood more clearly by adopting a longitudinal research design. The findings of this article are limited by the cross-sectional frame of research design adopted. The scale that is developed for employee voice needs more validation in other international contexts.

Practical implications

This study provides a framework through which employee voice can be shifted from adversarial frames of reference to harmonious and partnership-based forms of engagement. This also has the potential to transform the role of trade unions inside organizations and build a more collaborative edifice between multiple stakeholders. Another implication is that when voice is seen in a deliberative fashion it can lead to improved environment for innovation.

Originality/value

The purpose of this study is to contribute to reconceptualization of employee voice by contending that deliberative issues are an important part of transforming the status quo. Consequently, the patterns of deliberation structure constructive partnerships between different organizational stakeholders who may be perceived as having hostile relationships with each other. This study reconciles previous findings which suggested that employee voice can have negative consequences such as retaliation by suggesting that positive consequences of employee voice are contingent on its deliberative component.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 49 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 September 2016

Murugesh Arunachalam, Jagdeep Singh-Ladhar and Andrea McLachlan

This paper aims to examine the planning and policy processes in relation to the pollution in Lake Taupo. This paper describes and explains the manifestation of the tenets of…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the planning and policy processes in relation to the pollution in Lake Taupo. This paper describes and explains the manifestation of the tenets of deliberative democracy and the impediments of mobilising the tenets in the planning and policy-making processes.

Design/methodology/approach

This interpretive case study makes sense of interview transcripts, minutes of meetings, media reports and public documents and adopts deliberative democratic theory as the theoretical framework for the interpretive analysis.

Findings

Some factors fostered and others challenged the mobilization of the tenets of deliberative democracy. Local government processes facilitated the expression of multiple views in relation to the impacts of human activities on the Lake. Confrontations and tensions were inevitable elements of the deliberative processes. Pre-determined outcomes and domination of local authorities, aiming for environmental sustainability of Lake Taupo, posed as challenges to the operation of deliberative democracy. Some stakeholders need to sacrifice more than others, but recognition of pluralism, conflicts and differences is an essential part of deliberative democracy.

Originality/value

There is scarcity of research that empirically examines local government processes in light of deliberative democratic principles. The study also extends environmental and social studies that have explored the arena approach to accountability and decision-making.

Details

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8021

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2018

Anna Maria Al Zubaidi-Polli and Nervo Verdezoto

Public participation is an important – if not the most important – pillar of democracy. When designing new e-participation environments, it is advisable to consider previous…

Abstract

Purpose

Public participation is an important – if not the most important – pillar of democracy. When designing new e-participation environments, it is advisable to consider previous appropriation practices of deliberative community networks to encourage broad participation. This can be achieved by sharing appropriation practices and by supporting the situated development of use, which may not only increase user participation but also decrease user frustration.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper addresses previously analyzed e-participation appropriation practices and technological limitations that participants faced when using the e-participation environment from the Aarhus’s Artwork design experiment. The lessons learned from these limitations and the appropriation practices identified help us in designing the next generation of e-participation environments and in counteracting their unsuccessful appropriation.

Findings

Potential design improvements for future collaborative writing e-environments that facilitate location-agnostic participation, and improvements that enable successful technology appropriation are presented.

Originality/value

These improvements are important to future research to inform a hybrid of in situ and ex situ technologies that enable collaborative writing to increase public participation in leisure spaces, engage a broader range of citizens and thus also encourage less motivated people.

Article
Publication date: 17 June 2021

Azi Lev-On

The study examines the impact of presence, synchronicity of exposure and other variables on allocative decisions reached following a participatory budgeting event.

Abstract

Purpose

The study examines the impact of presence, synchronicity of exposure and other variables on allocative decisions reached following a participatory budgeting event.

Design/methodology/approach

The study analyzes the distributive decisions reached following a participatory budgeting event, which took place in an academic institution, and students were asked to determine the distribution of a portion of the student union budget. Some students viewed the event live (physically or remotely), while others watched it in delay.

Findings

The main variable affecting allocative decisions was whether decision-makers were exposed to the event physically or remotely. There was a significant and large difference between allocation decisions of participants who were physically present at the event and those who were exposed to it remotely.

Practical implications

The discussion elaborates on the implications of the findings for the importance of presence and media selection in public engagement events.

Originality/value

Public engagement events are becoming widespread, with the Internet being a major tool in their administration. This study demonstrates that using the Internet to make such events accessible to the non-physically present can create significant changes in decisions reached by participants.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 46 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2019

Engy E. Abdelhak, Ahmed A. Elamer, Aws AlHares and Craig McLaughlin

The purpose of this study is to investigate Egyptian auditors’ ethical reasoning, to understand whether auditors’ ethical reasoning is influenced by audit firm size and/or…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate Egyptian auditors’ ethical reasoning, to understand whether auditors’ ethical reasoning is influenced by audit firm size and/or auditor’s position.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on 178 questionnaires that include six different ethical scenarios. This paper also uses the accounting ethical dilemma instrument that is developed by Thorne (2000) to measure the ethical reasoning of Egyptian auditors.

Findings

The findings are threefold. First, this study finds that the general level of deliberative ethical reasoning of auditors working in the Central Auditing Organization (CAO) and small firms are categorized in the post-conventional level, while auditors working in big and medium firms are categorized in conventional level. Second, the result suggests that there is a negative relationship between ethical reasoning and audit firm size in Egypt. Finally, the results show that ethical reasoning levels decrease when the position of auditors increase except for auditors working in CAO.

Originality/value

This study adds to the scarce literature in developing countries that measure auditors’ ethical reasoning. The findings suggest that auditors’ ethical reasoning depends on auditor’s firm size and the position the auditor holds within the firm. These findings will aid policymakers and regulators, especially in developing countries, to avoid any potential risk regarding professional misconduct and in evaluating the adequacy of the current code of ethics.

Details

International Journal of Ethics and Systems, vol. 35 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9369

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 October 2016

Andreas Møller Jørgensen and Kim Normann Andersen

Whereas prior research has conceptualized and empirically investigated reinforcement and amplification mechanisms, this paper aims to propose a framework of power that captures…

Abstract

Purpose

Whereas prior research has conceptualized and empirically investigated reinforcement and amplification mechanisms, this paper aims to propose a framework of power that captures the dynamic ways in which different forms of online political action are structured by disparate mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper derives a theoretical model of power from Foucault and affiliated governmentality studies, which constructs power as the mechanisms and logics that structure the field of possible actions. This model is grounded in research literature on e-democracy and applied in a study of the mechanisms that structure e-democracy.

Findings

The paper identifies four mechanisms that balance disparate concerns of e-democracy. Monitoring (M) mechanisms apply logics of security and service to weigh anonymity and publicity against each other. The range of participants is determined by Inclusion/exclusion (I) mechanisms which operate through rules of engagement. Moderation (M) mechanisms balance concerns for heterogenic viewpoints and homogeneity according to a logic of uniformity. Logics of profit-making and shared understanding warrant the balance that Exposure (E) mechanisms strike between information abundance and centralized access. The four mechanisms are combined in the MIME framework.

Research limitations/implications

The MIME framework includes mechanisms that are documented by the English-speaking research community, often with a substantial time lag. Others and potentially forceful mechanisms might not be reported in the research literature.

Practical implications

Practitioners are encouraged to be cognizant of the variety of mechanisms that condition e-democracy; their internal components and external relations of e-democratic practices when designing, building and conducting e-democratic initiatives.

Originality/value

Instead of focusing exclusively on the beneficiaries and the possible payoffs from e-democratic practices, the MIME framework developed in the paper focuses on the mechanisms which structure e-democracy.

Details

Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, vol. 10 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6166

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 September 2020

Shailendra Singh, Arup Varma and Mohammad Haris Minai

Abstract

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 49 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Article
Publication date: 17 November 2023

Piotr Popęda and Bartłomiej Hadasik

The paper's primary purpose is to define and characterize the innovative concept in public management theory, New Public Governance (NPG), from its theoretical framework and the…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper's primary purpose is to define and characterize the innovative concept in public management theory, New Public Governance (NPG), from its theoretical framework and the view of public management institutions. The second objective is to create a logical framework to explain this notion. The broader role of this paper is to expand the understanding of this contemporary public management trend.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodological approach of the authors' research is based on a deep understanding of theoretical sources, particularly the scientific precursors in the literature surrounding the NPG theory. The authors used the following methods to achieve the paper's goals: critical thematic literature review and synthetic comparative analysis.

Findings

In regards to scientific analysis, the goals of NPG were achieved, considering that its concept and main characteristics were displayed in definitional terms as a trend in public management, emphasizing institutional cooperation and co-production, having strengths in social inclusion and weaknesses in the lack of participatory experience of the actors. Additionally, the authors created the original 6-CO coherent conceptual framework describing the flows in the NPG operation based on theoretical foundations. The analysis of theoretical sources not only allowed the collection of common and disconnected features of the reasoning behind the definition and depth of the NPG but also insufficient development of the theory in existing sources.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates critical new scholarship surrounding the NPG theory because it (1) applies one of the latest trends in public management, (2) juxtaposes various academics' understanding of the concept and, most importantly, (3) advances the theory of NPG with the original 6-CO coherent conceptual framework as a practical implication of the theory originator.

Details

Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2045-2101

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 April 2018

Adelina Calvo, Gloria María Braga Blanco and Aquilina Fueyo

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the potential of Lesson Study (LS) as a tool for dealing with dilemmas in university teaching.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the potential of Lesson Study (LS) as a tool for dealing with dilemmas in university teaching.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is the result of a LS project which was developed over two academic years (2015-2016 and 2016-2017) in the Faculties of Education and Teacher Training at the Universities of Cantabria and Oviedo (Spain). The research asked the question “How can better learning be achieved?” The starting point for the research methodology was the identification and analysis of teaching dilemmas. The whole process was based on the triangulation of perspectives through the collection of data using techniques such as peer observation, focus groups, interviews, and the writing of the Teacher’s final report. The methodology the authors used was inspired by the Student Voice “movement.”

Findings

The findings show that the potential of LS methodology for professional development in higher education is very promising, enabling teachers to deal with the questions raised by practice collaboratively, broaden their professional knowledge, introduce improvements, and establish new ways of understanding the teaching profession based on a collegial approach.

Originality/value

LS methodology is beginning to be known in Spain. Developments have only taken place very recently and there are still few experiences within the university context. It is not common practice for teaching in higher education to become a public space for reflection and research breaking from the traditional isolation between teachers and incorporating the voices of students.

Details

International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-8253

Keywords

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