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1 – 10 of over 15000This book is a policy proposal aimed at the democratic left. It is concerned with gradual but radical reform of the socio‐economic system. An integrated policy of industrial and…
Abstract
This book is a policy proposal aimed at the democratic left. It is concerned with gradual but radical reform of the socio‐economic system. An integrated policy of industrial and economic democracy, which centres around the establishment of a new sector of employee‐controlled enterprises, is presented. The proposal would retain the mix‐ed economy, but transform it into a much better “mixture”, with increased employee‐power in all sectors. While there is much of enduring value in our liberal western way of life, gross inequalities of wealth and power persist in our society.
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Katherine K. Chen and Victor Tan Chen
This volume explores an expansive array of organizational imaginaries, or understandings of organizational possibilities, with a focus on how collectivist-democratic organizations…
Abstract
This volume explores an expansive array of organizational imaginaries, or understandings of organizational possibilities, with a focus on how collectivist-democratic organizations offer alternatives to conventional for-profit managerial enterprises. These include worker and consumer cooperatives and other enterprises that, to varying degrees, (1) emphasize social values over profit; (2) are owned not by shareholders but by workers, consumers, or other stakeholders; (3) employ democratic forms of managing their operations; and (4) have social ties to the organization based on moral and emotional commitments. The contributors to this volume examine how these enterprises generate solidarity among members, network with other organizations and communities, contend with market pressures, and enhance their larger organizational ecosystems. In this introductory paper, the authors put forward an inclusive organizational typology whose continuums account for four key sources of variation – values, ownership, management, and social relations – and argue that enterprises fall between these two poles of the collectivist-democratic organization and the for-profit managerial enterprise. Drawing from this volume’s empirical studies, the authors situate these market actors within fields of competition and contestation shaped not just by state action and legal frameworks, but also by the presence or absence of social movements, labor unions, and meta-organizations. This typology challenges conventional conceptualizations of for-profit managerial enterprises as ideals or norms, reconnects past models of organizing among marginalized communities with contemporary and future possibilities, and offers activists and entrepreneurs a sense of the wide range of possibilities for building enterprises that differ from dominant models.
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Thomas L. Alsbury and Kathryn S. Whitaker
The purpose of this paper is to report on the superintendent portion of the UCEA Voices III project.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on the superintendent portion of the UCEA Voices III project.
Design/methodology/approach
A four‐year study to determine how school leaders, from several locations and contexts, describe their perceptions of and experiences with educational leadership related to the study themes, school improvement, democratic community, and social justice.
Findings
Study findings indicate that superintendents articulated these study themes in more general and practical terms than found in the academic literature, and share a belief that the themes may be mutually exclusive, and require contextual interpretation to be functional. The paper concludes by calling for extending our ideas of how to practice social justice, solicit broader community voice, employ shared decision making, and measure accountability.
Originality/value
Authors recommend that practitioners place more emphasis on individualized contextual and cultural realities that can minimize or even counter the intended effects of these leadership approaches in practice. Conclusions suggest that superintendents understand and practice a more inclusive form of social justice, sometimes having to control and filter majority stakeholder inputs to achieve more ethical, socially just, educational decisions. The study provides a critical and needed empirical evaluation of the theoretical concepts of shared decision‐making, inclusion of community stakeholders, and practicing social justice. As superintendents attempt to practice these concepts in a real‐world context, they have discovered and provided insights into the limitations of these ideas.
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Sam Kris Hilton, Helen Arkorful and Albert Martins
The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effect of contingent reward on the relationship between democratic leadership and organizational performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effect of contingent reward on the relationship between democratic leadership and organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Explanatory and cross-sectional survey designs were used. A quantitative research approach was also adopted to collect the data from 476 employees in the telecommunication industry. Using statistics package for social science, the data was analyzed via descriptive statistics, correlation and hierarchical regression techniques.
Findings
The results reveal that both democratic leadership and contingent reward have a significant positive relationship with organizational performance. Furthermore, contingent reward significantly augments and moderates the relationship between democratic leadership and organizational performance. Thus, the combination of democratic leadership and contingent reward would more likely produce higher organizational performance.
Originality/value
This study has made a significant contribution to leadership and organizational literature by establishing the effectiveness of contingent reward as a moderator on the relationship between democratic leadership and organizational performance in a telecommunication industry.
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The purpose of this paper is to trace the implementation of biculturalism in the New Zealand Playcentre Federation between 1989, when a public commitment to The Treaty of Waitangi…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to trace the implementation of biculturalism in the New Zealand Playcentre Federation between 1989, when a public commitment to The Treaty of Waitangi was made, and 2011, when Tiriti-based co-presidents were elected.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were drawn from the Playcentre Journal and papers from Playcentre National meetings, as well as from the author's experience as a Pākehā participating in Playcentre. The events are analysed using democratic theory.
Findings
Despite a willingness to encompass biculturalism, the processes of democracy as originally enacted by Playcentre hindered changes that allowed meaningful rangatiratanga (self-determination) by the Māori people within Playcentre. The factors that enabled rangatiratanga to gain acceptance were: changing to consensus decision making, allowing sub groups control over some decisions, and the adult education programme. These changes were made only after periods of open conflict. The structural changes that occurred in 2011 were the result of two decades of persistence and experimentation to find a way of honouring Te Tiriti within a democratic organisation.
Social implications
The findings suggest that cultural pluralism within a liberal democratic organisation is best supported with an agonistic approach, where an underlying consensus of world view is not assumed but instead relies on a commitment by the different cultures to retaining the political association within the structure of the organisation.
Originality/value
Many organisations in New Zealand, especially in education, struggle to implement biculturalism, and the findings of this study could be useful for informing policy in such organisations. This history of Playcentre continues from where previous histories finished.
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This article discusses the devolution of educational administrationin Victoria from the perspective of the role and selection of principalsin such a devolved system. Drawing on…
Abstract
This article discusses the devolution of educational administration in Victoria from the perspective of the role and selection of principals in such a devolved system. Drawing on such writers as Dewey and Giddens the article presents the case why, in a political democracy, we should also have democratically administered organisations. But the tensions and problematic aspects in democratic forms of educational administration are also outlined. These forces impinging on the role and selection of principals are then exemplified through a case study.
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This study aims to examine the changes in cooperative community and kibbutz industry that did not undergo privatization.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the changes in cooperative community and kibbutz industry that did not undergo privatization.
Design/methodology/approach
This research was based on the case study method, combined with ethnographic interviews and document analysis.
Findings
The findings showed that the industry was highly successful economically, enabling the management to strengthen its authority without sharing information. The decision-making process, thus, became authoritarian, while the community's democratic mechanism was only nominal. This change was also accomplished by cultural transition from cooperative toward more capitalistic values. Management preferred to hire professional workers from the outside without any preference for kibbutz members, causing ethical dilemmas for certain elderly kibbutz members, who felt that the factory had abandoned socialistic ideas.
Research limitations/implications
This research was conducted only on one kibbutz industry; further research is recommended.
Practical implications
Management at cooperative organizations needs to realize that in a capitalistic environment, adaptation can cause the organization to lose its cooperative features. To prevent a cultural shift toward capitalistic values, managers need to be socialized and workers persuaded of the importance of cooperative values.
Originality/value
The study is innovative for its focus on loss of cooperative community and managerial style that has not been addressed sufficiently in the literature. This research sheds light on organizational conditions that can cause cooperative communities to lose their democratic and socialistic attributes.
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This paper offers a novel conceptual framework based on decision‐making institutions, structures and principles, for a systemic integration of ethics and economic development…
Abstract
This paper offers a novel conceptual framework based on decision‐making institutions, structures and principles, for a systemic integration of ethics and economic development. Within this framework ethical issues are systematically incorporated into the main components of the decision‐making process for sustained economic and ethical development. These components include an optimal decision‐making structure based on merit and justice, proper decision‐making procedures, reliable information flows, rational and moral decision‐making criteria, and an effective motivation structure that includes both material and moral incentives