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1 – 10 of over 2000Derek Robert Brown, Dennis Rose and Ray Gordon
The purpose of this paper is to begin the discussion about re-positioning change management in information technology projects and to propose a framework for improving the quality…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to begin the discussion about re-positioning change management in information technology projects and to propose a framework for improving the quality of decision making in change initiatives that may contribute to that re-positioning.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyzed all change management job advertisements in Australia in both the public and private sectors for May 2015, to identify which change management-related skills were being sought. The purpose was to try to identify any patterns that would confirm or negate the original observations, and to help develop a research question for a subsequent, substantive study.
Findings
Change management may be perceived as predominantly comprising communications, stakeholder management and training. The quality of leadership decision making in change initiatives may also be contributing to the consistently high failure rates.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis of job advertisements was a sample only, and requires more quantitative research.
Practical implications
The required alignment of leadership, ethics and change can only be achieved by first improving the quality of leadership decision making, which demands a values-based approach.
Originality/value
The paper highlights a restriction to the scope of practice of change management, and how that contributes to continuing high failure rates. The value is that it provides deeper insight into the commonly accepted “leadership alignment” issue, as well as demonstrating that this is probably the least practiced aspect of change management. The paper also challenges to build strong ethical foundations for the practice.
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Dennis Michael Rose and Raymond Gordon
The purpose of this paper is to examine the evidence for age-related changes in cognition and the implications for leadership styles. In particular, a case is argued for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the evidence for age-related changes in cognition and the implications for leadership styles. In particular, a case is argued for distributed forms of leadership that encourage contribution across the age spectrum and hierarchical levels.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper takes a conceptual approach, combining the psychology and management literatures in arguing the case for newer leadership forms, appropriate to an ageing workforce.
Findings
Three principal components of intelligence (fluid, and crystallised intelligence and working memory) are considered and it is argued that high levels of fluid intelligence, generally higher in younger employees, should be accessed while being balanced by crystallised intelligence (experience). Distributed leadership has been mainly applied in educational settings. This paper argues for distributed leadership to maximise creativity and innovation.
Practical implications
Leadership forms that maximise creative input from staff across all age levels are likely to contribute to firm innovation and sustainability. Additionally, job satisfaction and turnover among junior staff may be positively influenced through opportunities for greater participation.
Social implications
The elements discussed in this paper address important leadership issues for managing a multigenerational workforce.
Originality/value
Distributed leadership has been discussed in educational and health literatures for some time; however it is only recently that this approach to leadership has appeared in mainstream management literature. The discussion of age-related changes and distributed leadership introduces and important topic for further research in newer forms of leadership.
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Our occasional plea for more candidates, representing all sides of librarianship, for the Library Association Council, seems to have been over‐adequately satisfied this year. The…
Abstract
Our occasional plea for more candidates, representing all sides of librarianship, for the Library Association Council, seems to have been over‐adequately satisfied this year. The rotation system of election provides only five vacancies each year; for these there were seventeen candidates. The voters were as indifferent as usual. The entire number of votes for all candidates was 10,396, and this from a membership of well over 8,000, each with five votes to cast. Possibly this shows the proportion of members who are really active in their interest. The results, however, cannot be called unsatisfactory, although the loss of Mr. Seymour Smith is to be regretted on the London representation. His successor, Mr. F. C. Francis, is a welcome addition, as he increases our connexion with the British Museum, and thus recalls the early years of the Association. From the Country representation we have lost the chief librarians of Glasgow and Newcastle‐upon‐Tyne, and the County Librarian of Denbighshire. The three successful candidates, Miss F. E. Cook (Lancashire), Mr. Duncan Gray and Mr. E. A. Clough, merely return to the Council. This presents a sort of election puzzle, as those who were displaced were also on the Council last year. Possibly some of them formerly represented branches or sections; there is certainly a solution to the puzzle. We say with confidence that any one of the candidates, successful or unsuccessful, would be an excellent councillor. For examples, many would like to see Cambridge University Library represented by Mr. E. Ansell, and it seems impossible that Glasgow is not represented or that the work Mr. Paterson has done should not have kept his seat safe; while few men of recent years have done more for the education of librarians than Mr. Austin Hinton. But the difficulty is that much the same sort of eulogy might be made of those who have been elected.
Criticizes Handy’s depiction of the portfolio career and the end of job security because he is overly dismissive of the contribution job security can and does make to the moral…
Abstract
Criticizes Handy’s depiction of the portfolio career and the end of job security because he is overly dismissive of the contribution job security can and does make to the moral order of society. Develops a counter argument and evidence showing that business organizations are complex, morally significant institutions in addition to being instruments designed to fulfil an economic function. Concludes that the company should be institutionalized as a shared community of purpose which enables us to recognize its contribution as one of the important vehicles for the development of virtue and the good life. Notes that business educators and business leaders need to take employment security seriously and build this conception into their professional ideology and practice.
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Delia Vazquez, Jenny Cheung, Bang Nguyen, Charles Dennis and Anthony Kent
The purpose of this study is to analyse online consumers' experiential responses towards visual user-generated content in social commerce fashion online shopping environments. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyse online consumers' experiential responses towards visual user-generated content in social commerce fashion online shopping environments. The study develops and tests a UGC OCE framework incorporating aesthetic and relational experiential paths in the OCE.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a quantitative approach to examine fashion consumers experiential responses to UGC content. The sample comprised 555 respondents recruited via a consumer panel. SEM analysis was employed to analyse and test the framework model.
Findings
The findings illustrate that consumers are initially stimulated by an aesthetic experience, which then triggers a combination of relational, emotional and interactive experiences in fashion social commerce. The study extends the S-O-R framework by integrating it to the experiential “path” that indicates the series of experiences consumers encounter. Using S-O-R, the study presents the consumers' online experiential responses to viewing visual UGC, revealing that there are five experiential responses, all of which have an influence on online consumer behaviour. Responses towards visual UGC include visual, relational, emotional, cognitive engagement and interactive engagement, which were all identified to influence purchase intention.
Originality/value
This study is original in finding that, in the context of online fashion shopping, aesthetics drive relational experiences, and relational experiences drive flow and interactive behaviour and also purchase intention. Aesthetic experiences and positive emotions are powerful drivers of purchase intention and drive connectedness, flow and interactive behaviour. This study extends the literature by extending the frameworks in OCE and CE into the fashion UGC context.
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Margaret Denny, John Wells and Jennifer Cunningham
The European Union's (EU) social and employment policy emphasizes that member states should develop workforce development policies that combat work‐related stress. Within the EU…
Abstract
Purpose
The European Union's (EU) social and employment policy emphasizes that member states should develop workforce development policies that combat work‐related stress. Within the EU, there are few comparative data on the psychosocial job strain characteristics and experiences of staff working in the vocational rehabilitative sector in mental health and intellectual disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a Leonardo Da Vinci‐funded project – The Reducing Occupational Stress in Employment Project (ROSE) – which aims to reduce stress amongst managers and support staff working in the mental health and intellectual disability occupational support sector across the EU.
Design/methodology/approach
This research paper reports the findings of a small‐scale across method study, using a cross‐sectional design and focus groups, on psychosocial job strain amongst managers and support workers in five European countries. Data were gathered through administration of the job content questionnaire (JCQ) and a series of focus groups.
Findings
Findings from the JCQ showed that just under 20 percent of the sample exhibited symptoms of job strain. Results from the focus groups indicated that the key stressors for workers were balancing work demands with time available to carry out tasks; poor communication within organizations; and feeling unsupported in one's work. In addition, it was found that there are no national or European data collected, at any level, upon which to base effective interventions to combat occupational stress and no effective mechanisms in the workplace to deal with occupational stress for professionals working in this sector.
Practical implications
Based on the findings, a web site was developed that provides helpful information to managers, trainers, and support workers to manage personal and organizational stressors and raises awareness of the issue within Europe and beyond.
Originality/value
The ROSE project is significant at this time considering the current thrust of EU policy initiatives on mental health, workplace stress and employee well‐being.
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The purpose of this paper is to present an evocative story “Resisting the Ban” which illustrates the ethical and pragmatic issues that nurses face when contending with smoking ban…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an evocative story “Resisting the Ban” which illustrates the ethical and pragmatic issues that nurses face when contending with smoking ban policies in inpatient psychiatric settings.
Design/methodology/approach
The creative story “Resisting the Ban” was developed based on an organisational auto-ethnographic approach. The story was crafted through employing creative writing techniques and through framing and critiquing memories via several theoretical frames.
Findings
The story illustrates how smoking ban policies have created pragmatic and ethical issues on wards. The work practices of nurses have changed as have their relationships with patients. The liberties of involuntary patients have also been infringed.
Research limitations/implications
This approach can illuminate links between acts of resistance and issues associated with public policies.
Practical implications
The effects of smoking bans need to be considered more carefully particularly in relation to their effects on workers and patients. The social meaning of the smoking bans needs closer investigation. Policy needs to be recrafted so that it better addresses the liberties of involuntary patients. Also ward nurses need to be able to carry out their roles in a manner which is consistent with their values.
Social implications
Public policies, such as smoking bans, can produce negative consequences maligning relationships, practices and cultures. Critical auto-ethnography provides a means of understanding issues that have resulted from problematic policies.
Originality/value
Scholarly work conducted on the relationship between everyday resistance in workplaces and public policies is rare. This study offers new “insider” insights into the negative effects of a smoking ban policy in psychiatric inpatient settings.
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The review of food consumption elsewhere in this issue shows the broad pattern of food supplies in this country; what and how much we eat. Dietary habits are different to what…
Abstract
The review of food consumption elsewhere in this issue shows the broad pattern of food supplies in this country; what and how much we eat. Dietary habits are different to what they were before the last War, but there have been few real changes since the end of that War. Because of supplies and prices, shifts within commodity groups have occurred, e.g. carcase meat, bread, milk, but overall, the range of foods commonly eaten has remained stable. The rise of “convenience foods” in the twenty‐five year since the War is seen as a change in household needs and the increasing employment of women in industry and commerce, rather than a change in foods eaten or in consumer preference. Supplies available for consumption have remained fairly steady throughout the period, but if the main food sources, energy and nutrient content of the diet have not changed, changes in detail have begun to appear and the broad pattern of food is not quite so markedly stable as of yore.