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The purpose of this article is to develop a critical and extended understanding of practices in organizations from a phenomenological point of view. It explores the relevance of Merleau-Ponty's advanced phenomenology and ontology for understanding the role of the lived body and the embodiment of practices and change in organizational lifeworlds.

Based on the literature review and phenomenology, the role of embodied and relational dimension, the concept of an emergent and responsive “inter-practice” in organizations is developed systematically.

Based on the phenomenological and relational approach, the concept of (inter-)practice allows an extended more integral and processual understanding of the role of bodily and embodied practices in organizational lifeworlds as emerging events. The concept of inter-practice(ing) contributes to conceiving of new ways of approaching how responsive and improvisational practicing, related to change, coevolves within a multidimensional nexus of organizations.

Specific theoretical and methodological implications for exploring and enacting relational practices as well as limitations are offered.

Some specific practical implications are provided that facilitate and enable embodied practices in organizational contexts.

The responsive inter-practice is seen as embedded in sociality and social interactions and links to sociocultural and political as well as ethical dimensions are discussed.

By extending the existing discourse and using an embodied approach, the paper proposes a novel orientation for reinterpreting practice that allows explorations of the emergence and realization of alternative, ingenious and more suitable forms of practicing and change in organizations.

The UK Government has frequently referred to the importance of strategic human resource management (HRM) to the success of the National Health Service (NHS). However, relatively little is known about whether HR departments within individual NHS Trusts play a strategic role and, if so, how this has been achieved. Reports on the findings of a unique study into HRM at the Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust over the period 1994‐2000. In particular, focuses on the factors that have enabled or constrained the development of a strategic role over time. Whilst it was found that the NHS context often served as a constraining factor, also shows that much can be done at the level of the individual Trust to foster a strategic role for the HR function. Of particular importance were the HR director role, the attitudes of senior management towards HRM and the way in which HR interventions were implemented.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the multidimensional, ambivalent and responsive process of transformation, particularly as related to non‐cognitive processes and effects of leader‐ and followership.

Based on a critical literature review, advanced phenomenology and a relational approach, the significance of form and embodied, emotional and aesthetic dimensions, potential and effects of transforming in general and transformational leadership in particular are discussed.

Transformations in organisations are recognized as an embodied, emotional and aesthetical as well as inter‐relational event. With an extended understanding, transformational leadership can itself be transformed into an aesthetically in‐formed and more integral practice of leader‐ and followership. Building on the insights gained, practical, theoretical, and methodological implications are provided. Furthermore, limitations and problems are discussed.

The paper contributes to an innovative comprehension and offers critical perspectives on transformative processes in organisation and leadership. By drawing attention to the interrelated embodied, emotional and aesthetic dimensions of transformation, the paper develops a genuine and timely conceptualisation, allowing a creative transformation of conventional understandings and practices of leader‐ and followership in organisations.

Like other developed countries Australia has seen intensifying competition between financial institutions as a result of the combined pressures of economic and social change, deregulation of financial systems and the introduction of new technology. Increased competition has led to a blurring of the traditional boundaries between institutions, changes in market structures and a proliferation of new services and products. A new awareness of the role and importance of marketing in the services as something more than advertising and selling has arisen. The Final Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Australian Financial System (the Campbell Committee) in 1981 recommended almost total deregulation. Any necessary government intervention in the system should be by market methods, not direct controls. The effect has been most noticeable on banks and life assurance. The consumer will benefit from deregulation with a wider range of choice, but it may bring about job losses through new technology and poorer standards of service may arise. Its economic effects are feared. Eventually the need for legislation may arise again.

This article draws from a qualitative case study with four Black reentry women. Exploring their educational narratives through the framework of Black Feminist Thought, this study reveals that the women enacted their college reentry in three compelling ways: (1) reentry as a response to critical moments, (2) reentry as a strategy for coping with challenges, and (3) reentry as a practical step toward getting their daughters in to college. Cursory reviews of Black women in higher education and representations of Black motherhood contexualize the struggles these and other Black women have faced in getting an education, raising their families, and maintaining a positive image in society.

This article concentrates on the distinctive features of a circulation control system designed to achieve simplicity of procedure at the final user/system interface. The system has been operating off‐line since September 1972, but the design of the data file structures also permits on‐line interrogation. Methods of book and borrower numbering, and the handling of multiple‐copy reservations are described. Flexible day‐to‐day control of processing and outputs required is exercised by the library by the input of parameter cards. Printout has been reduced to a minimum, all notices to borrowers are printed on a single pre‐printed form, and as much use as possible is made of information already recorded manually. The system seeks to achieve automation of data control without the proliferation of data records which a computer system can tend to encourage.

We compare the governance characteristics of dual-class firms to a matched sample of single-class firms. Dual-class firms allow firms to separate voting and cash flow rights, frequently allowing management to control the voting rights while only having a small proportion of the cash flow rights. With the control of the voting rights, management has the ability to choose governance characteristics to further entrench itself or help protect the rights of the minority investors. We show that dual-class firms are less likely to have independent boards and have lower levels of institutional ownership. However, dual-class firms are more likely to have separate individuals as CEO and Chairman of the Board and less likely to have staggered boards, which are considered to be good governance characteristics.

The purpose of this nonexperimental research was to examine the perceptions of state-certified teachers regarding Library Media Specialists (LMS). Through collaboration and the use of social constructivist learning theories, teachers at three high schools in Georgia were interviewed regarding the roles and responsibilities of LMS. The primary research question asked how the perceptions of teachers on the practices of the role of the school LMS differ from the way the teachers perceive these roles to be important at their high schools. The secondary research questions addressed the correlations between high school teachers' demographic information and both the importance of and the practice of the roles of the high school LMS. Quantitative data were collected through a survey developed by McCracken (2000). A paired sample t-test was used to compare the theoretical and practical scales in each category of the LMS roles, and a Spearman rank-ordered correlations test was used to compare the 13 descriptive variables to theoretical and practical scales. Teacher participants reported each of the roles of the LMS to be more important than what is actually being practiced in their school settings and that similar views existed on both the practice scale and the importance scale. Implications include community and educator awareness of the role of the school LMS, an increased educator awareness of the roles of a state-certified school LMS to compliment the high school curriculum, and an increased awareness for the need of a LMS in public schools.