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1 – 10 of 325
Article
Publication date: 1 April 1993

James C. Sarros and Don S. Woodman

Current changes in Australian and world economic and socialclimates have implications for business leadership, particularly at themiddle and senior management levels. Surveys…

1107

Abstract

Current changes in Australian and world economic and social climates have implications for business leadership, particularly at the middle and senior management levels. Surveys business executives attending a well‐known Australian management college during 1991 and 1992 and provides an overview of how leadership responds to and interprets these changes. Identifies five main leadership attributes, namely: vision and creativity; setting and achieving objectives; confident decision making; team building; and charisma. Associates these attributes with 16 organizational outcomes such as: organization innovation, direction setting and motivated workforce, among others. The overall results indicate that further research is needed to examine the extent to which team building and charisma as leadership attributes interact with and predict organization outcomes. Also discusses the practical implications of the findings.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 14 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 September 2022

Annalisa Dordoni

The retail sector is not largely studied in Italy. The study offers a comparison between youth retail shift work in Milan and London. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the…

Abstract

Purpose

The retail sector is not largely studied in Italy. The study offers a comparison between youth retail shift work in Milan and London. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate on the one hand on youth work and on the other hand to the debate on agency and structural factors in life planning, representation of the future and the transition to adulthood, observed in the United Kingdom's and Italian labour market. Even if the second one is a Southern European Country, these contexts are both characterised by a service-oriented economy and the widespread of precarious and flexible jobs.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative methods were used: one year of ethnographic observation, 50 interviews and two focus groups were carried out between 2015 and 2018 with retail workers and trade unionists. The contexts are Corso Buenos Aires in Milan, Italy, and Oxford Street in London, United Kingdom. Analysing young workers' discourses, the author identifies narratives that allow to grasp their present agency and imagined future.

Findings

Observing the crisis of the narrative (Sennett, 2020) allows to highlight the social consequences of working times on young workers' everyday life and future. The author argues that young workers struggle with the narrative of their present everyday life and the representation of the future. This relates to the condition of time alienation due to the flexible schedules and the fast pace of work in retail, both affecting the work-life balance.

Originality/value

The social consequences of flexible schedules in retail and fast fashion sector, which are new issues not yet sufficiently explored, are here investigated from the perspective of young workers. The study is focussed on the representations of young people working with customers in social and economic contexts characterised by flexible schedules and the deregulation of shop openings, the so-called 24/7 service society, not largely investigated in the sociological scientific literature, above all in the Italian context.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 42 no. 13/14
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 February 2022

Johanna E. Pregmark

This paper aims to contribute to discussion around the need for improved models for change in a rapidly changing world. It also aims to provide insights for further discussion…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to contribute to discussion around the need for improved models for change in a rapidly changing world. It also aims to provide insights for further discussion around how a Nordic management approach can relate to the need for new change ideas. Since Lewin proposed that change requires unfreezing, moving and refreezing, several changes in models have been introduced. Many models include similar factors such as the need for a vision, a clear process and to motivate change. These change factors are investigated in this paper and related to a fast-paced, uncertain and volatile environment

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a collaborative research approach, engaging with leaders in five organizations, all headquartered in the Nordic countries, this paper examines problems with traditional change models in a contemporary context as well as how these challenges could be handled.

Findings

This paper concludes that leaders still find value in traditional models but see that these models need to be adapted to include elements of more recent research. This paper suggests tweaks in traditional change factors and ends with a proposition with a renewed model for change.

Originality/value

The ideas in this paper could be seen as a bridge between traditional and modern models – a bridge that seems to be needed in practice. It draws on action research and close relationships with top management, as they are working with change – potentially giving the study a unique angle on a practical, widespread problem: succeeding with change

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2007

Mats Sundgren and Alexander Styhre

A dominating view in the literature of organizational creativity is to treat the creativity as an ex post facto construct rather than a process that may be subject to systematic…

1274

Abstract

Purpose

A dominating view in the literature of organizational creativity is to treat the creativity as an ex post facto construct rather than a process that may be subject to systematic and thoughtful managerial practices. Drawing on Alfred North Whitehead's writing, the paper seeks to examine how creativity is conceptualized in the pharmaceutical industry.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on a series of interviews with managers and scientists in three pharmaceutical companies.

Findings

Although researchers and managers designate the role of organizational creativity as the most important strategic capability of the firm, there is almost no communication about it. The respondents point out a gap between understanding and action in the innovation process, i.e. what precedes it in new drug development. This gap is clearly illustrated – creativity is what makes the difference for the companies – but hardly anyone talks about it.

Practical implications

From a management perspective this paper concludes that organizational creativity in new drug development can become a more actionable concept by capturing images and narratives relevant to the organizational reality.

Originality/value

In contrast to the dominated individualistic centered view of creativity, this paper argues that creativity does not occur at a single point in time but is rather the outcome from a series of interconnected events and undertakings. A process‐based view of creativity can thus escape the misplaced concreteness that the mythology of creativity postulates. Whitehead's process philosophy may form a fruitful foundation from which organizational creativity can be understood and exploited.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 10 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 1928

The provisions of the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act, 1926, which came into force on July 1st, are based upon the recommendations of two committees which sat during 1923–25…

Abstract

The provisions of the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act, 1926, which came into force on July 1st, are based upon the recommendations of two committees which sat during 1923–25, the first of which suggested the general lines of the Act, while the second prepared the schedules of articles coming within its scope. Although the Act received Royal Assent in December, 1926, it has not been practicable to bring it into operation until the regulations governing such matters as methods of sampling and analysis, methods of marking parcels, and limits of variation, had been prepared and published. These regulations were published in draft form in February, 1928, and in their final form during May. The general purpose of the Act, like that of the Act of 1906 which it repeals, is to provide civil remedies in cases of misdescription of, and to prevent fraud in, fertilisers and feeding stuffs. Its scope is defined by means of schedules which may be extended or varied, whenever the need arises, by regulations. One of the principal objects in replacing the Act of 1906 by new legislation was to separate, as far as possible, civil proceedings and criminal proceedings, in order to encourage farmers to exercise their civil rights without involving their suppliers in police court proceedings. The “civil provisions” of the Act are those which enact that buyers of the fertilisers and feeding stuffs in common use shall be furnished with a warranty covering certain important points, and which, further, afford them the means of testing these warranties with a view to formulating a claim where they are not fulfilled. The first requirement of the Act is that every person who sells for use as a fertiliser or as a feeding stuff for cattle or poultry any article included in either the First or the Second Schedule to the Act shall give the purchaser a written statement (called the “ statutory statement”) showing :—

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 30 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Article
Publication date: 14 March 2016

Fajer Saleh Al-Mutawa

The purpose of this paper is to explore how Muslim men in Kuwait negotiate their luxury fashion consumption (considered a feminized practice in Kuwait) without compromising their…

1534

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how Muslim men in Kuwait negotiate their luxury fashion consumption (considered a feminized practice in Kuwait) without compromising their masculine identity.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected through 108 qualitative questionnaires and two unstructured in-depth interviews. Non-participant observations and informal conversations took place as part of an ongoing ethnographic study on luxury fashion consumption in Kuwait.

Findings

Within the feminized space of fashion, accessories (such as shoes, wallets, watches, sunglasses, etc.) seem to allow Muslim men an androgynous space (consumer constructions of gendered spaces to be equally masculine and feminine) to be fashionable yet maintain a masculine identity.

Research limitations/implications

Further research may explore the negotiation of androgyny among men who consume luxury fashion clothing or conspicuously feminized fashion (such as jewellery and handbags) in highly gendered societies. Limitations include reliance on questionnaire data (lacks depth insights) and narrow consumer (Muslim men in Kuwait).

Practical implications

Marketers of luxury fashion brands in Kuwait should focus on fashion accessories when targeting males. Advertising needs to shift gender perceptions of traditionally feminine fashion (such as handbags or jewellery) towards androgyny to attract male consumers. Religiosity of consumers is an important segmentation basis, and Muslim men who are less religious may be more open towards fashion consumption.

Originality/value

This research proposes the notion of androgynous spaces, contributing to gender within marketing theory and practice.

Details

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, vol. 20 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-2026

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 1913

In October, 1908, a report was issued by the Medical Officer of Health for the City of London relating to the unsatisfactory manner in which soda water was manufactured at that…

Abstract

In October, 1908, a report was issued by the Medical Officer of Health for the City of London relating to the unsatisfactory manner in which soda water was manufactured at that time in the London district, and to the means that had been used after official enquiry to better the methods of manufacture. The circumstances were referred to in this Journal for November, 1908. It will be remembered that at the time reputable members of the trade readily agreed that they should be bound by certain regulations. These regulations had been drawn up by the Medical Officer of Health for the City of London and related to inspection of premises and examination of plant, water, and materials. As a proof that they had complied with the regulations a certificate was issued to each firm by their trade society, “The London Bottle Exchange and Mineral Water Trade Protection Society, Limited.” This certificate was submitted to and passed by the Medical Officer of Health for the City of London before issue. The arrangement, though good in conception, appears to be faulty in design, and it is desirable, therefore, to offer some criticism.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 15 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2002

Barrie O. Pettman and Richard Dobbins

This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.

26512

Abstract

This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.

Details

Equal Opportunities International, vol. 21 no. 4/5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0261-0159

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2015

Ivar Friis and Allan Hansen

– This paper aims to explore the role of line-item budgeting in film production in an effort to illustrate the positive effects that budgetary constraints can have on creativity.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the role of line-item budgeting in film production in an effort to illustrate the positive effects that budgetary constraints can have on creativity.

Design/methodology/approach

Using Elster’s (2000) constraint theory as a basis for the research, this paper conducted a case study on the making of a Danish adventure film and analysed the role budgeting plays from the film director’s point of view.

Findings

This paper suggests that the constraints of the line-item budget imposed on the director had positive effects in terms of the pre-commitments entailed, which aided in protecting the director against the negative aspects of passion (e.g. distorted thought processes, myopia and weakness of will) in the creative process and in terms of the ability of the constraints to channel creativity in certain directions, thus preventing the availability of too many options from hampering the creative process.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to management control research in two ways. By addressing calls to provide more insight into the positive effects management control constraints might have on creativity, this study explores somewhat ignored aspects of line-item budgeting, adding greater insight into the interrelations between creativity and control. By exploring the ways in which line-item budgeting might take on the role of pre-commitment advice and devices in the creative process, this paper further exposes the links between accounting constraints and self-control.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 October 2007

Shaun Powell and Chris Dodd

The purpose of this paper is to help answer “To what degree can creative employees be encouraged or motivated to align with a leader's creative vision and what issues may be faced…

4109

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to help answer “To what degree can creative employees be encouraged or motivated to align with a leader's creative vision and what issues may be faced along the way?” The management and communication of vision in relation to the organisational brand within the creative industries can face many unique challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

As much of the existing creativity literature at an organisational level is not empirically based, a rigorous, inductive and exploratory case study approach was employed to explore emergent issues relating to the management and communication of the brand within creative small to medium‐sized organisations. Recent research attempts to uncover the link between organisational creativity and the brand are reviewed. The inductive case study approach undertaken is discussed. This incorporates interviews and thematic analysis with the aid of various qualitative data software packages.

Findings

The inductively generated themes uncover interrelating issues of relevance to owners and managers relating to: vision and alignment; creative growth; creative evaluation and rewards. The themes also help to draw attention to some of the potential barriers to achieving a desired or effective creative brand.

Originality/value

It can be argued that by taking an exploratory and inductive approach, a wide number of potential effects on creativity and the ensuing brand have been identified. Practitioners within the creative industries can potentially benefit from the observations because they are empirically based rather than being purely theoretical, and focus on both employees and clients. These also appear to go beyond the themes identified within previous studies within these same creative industry sectors. The investigation and reflections may act as a useful starting‐point for further research into the formation and management of a creative brand.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

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