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Article
Publication date: 2 February 2015

Oliver Mallett and Gayle Porter

188

Abstract

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 44 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2006

Gayle Porter and Nada K. Kakabadse

The aim of this study is an exploration of the behavioural addictions to work (workaholism) and to use of technology (technolophilia), particularly as they overlap in managers'…

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is an exploration of the behavioural addictions to work (workaholism) and to use of technology (technolophilia), particularly as they overlap in managers' work routines and expectations placed on their employees.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a qualitative analysis of managers' comments from structured interviews and focus groups in several countries.

Findings

This research culminated in a model of various adaptations to both work pressure and need to use technology in today's business work, including the potential to over‐adapt or lapse into a pattern of addiction.

Research limitations/implications

The consolidation of multi‐disciplinary literature and the framework of the model will serve as a reference points for continuing research on behavioural addictions related to work and technology.

Practical implications

Human resource professionals concerned with employee well‐being can utilize the components of this model to proactively recognize problems and generate remedies. Specific suggestions are offered to offset undesirable adaptations.

Originality/value

This is the first study to focus on the mutually reinforcing addictions to work and use of technology – an important step forward in recognizing the scope of the issue and generating further research with practical application in business world.

Details

Journal of Management Development, vol. 25 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0262-1711

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2006

Gayle Porter

To explore whether workaholism seems to be a pre‐requisite for success in the high‐technology industry.

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Abstract

Purpose

To explore whether workaholism seems to be a pre‐requisite for success in the high‐technology industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey results from a team of fourteen managers are used as a case study, to examine tendencies believed to relate to workaholism. A variety of cross comparisons are presented as scatter plots to frame the discussion, along with composite profiles of individual managers.

Findings

While some of the managers seemed to represent the archetypal workaholic, some were quite the opposite. Others classified as either moderate or at‐risk.

Research limitations/implications

Study took place within one company and using measures taken within a relatively short time span of several months. Statistical comparisons were not possible with a group of 14. The management group was exclusively male, eliminating any potential for gender comparisons.

Practical implications

These managers had proven success within the same company and a high demand industry. Yet some did not display workaholic characteristics, refuting the idea that a demanding and fast‐paced environment requires one must be a workaholic to succeed.

Originality/value

Multiple measurement scales are used to develop composite profiles based on various aspects suggesting workaholism. This is an important examination of differences among managers within a context often cited as supporting, or perhaps requiring, workaholic tendencies. These examples indicate that employees need not sacrifice all else for work in order to get ahead.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 11 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2005

Gayle Porter

To provide current information on managers' expectations of their employees, toward structuring future research on amount of time and energy devoted to work.

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Abstract

Purpose

To provide current information on managers' expectations of their employees, toward structuring future research on amount of time and energy devoted to work.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative data, acquired through focus groups and interviews, provide a sample of the perceptions of 57 managers in the mid‐Atlantic region of the USA regarding employees' work ethic.

Findings

The results are presented as descriptive information of interest in formulating future research. The traditional work ethic (hard work, responsibility, diligence) still dominates managers' expectations, and they believe many employees have lost the willingness to work now for later returns (that was a key component of the early Protestant work ethic in the USA). Many of the concerns these managers expressed parallel predictions by writers in social and economic history – for example, influence of early social development, emphasis on everything “instant”, and the pressure through technology to work anywhere/anytime. Some implications for practice are discussed.

Originality/value

This study is unique in that it asks the managers directly about their individual expectations. Literature reflects both individual and organizational pressures for hard work, but the organizational side is assessed through examining unfortunate outcomes of policies and practices. The personal comments of the managers provide an important dimension to considering demands of the workplace.

Details

Journal of European Industrial Training, vol. 29 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0590

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2003

David O’Donnell, Gayle Porter, David McGuire, Thomas N. Garavan, Margaret Heffernan and Peter Cleary

John Seely Brown notes that context must be added to data and information to produce meaning. To move forward, Brown suggests, we must not merely look ahead but we must also learn…

1976

Abstract

John Seely Brown notes that context must be added to data and information to produce meaning. To move forward, Brown suggests, we must not merely look ahead but we must also learn to “look around” because learning occurs when members of a community of practice (CoP) socially construct and share their understanding of some text, issue or event. We draw explicitly here on the structural components of a Habermasian lifeworld in order to identify some dynamic processes through which a specific intellectual capital creating context, CoP, may be theoretically positioned. Rejecting the individualistic “Cogito, ergo sum” of the Cartesians, we move in line with Brown’s “we participate, therefore we are” to arrive within a Habermasian community of practice: we communicate, ergo, we create.

Details

Journal of European Industrial Training, vol. 27 no. 2/3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0590

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2004

Gayle Porter

Organizational change initiatives are successful only through the efforts of the people, so it is important to look beyond surface reactions and understand the deeper implications…

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Abstract

Organizational change initiatives are successful only through the efforts of the people, so it is important to look beyond surface reactions and understand the deeper implications of employees' visible work habits. By integrating work from several disciplines, this paper poses a series of questions aimed at creating better awareness of differences in how and why people work. Historic tracking of beliefs about work in the USA is provided as an example of how a positive foundation of strong work ethic can become the dysfunctional extreme of workaholism.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 17 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 December 2019

Jacqueline Botterill

George Mortimer Pullman (1831-1897), nineteenth century US luxury rail car entrepreneur, divides opinion. Some commemorate Pullman as a brilliant industrialist, innovator and…

Abstract

Purpose

George Mortimer Pullman (1831-1897), nineteenth century US luxury rail car entrepreneur, divides opinion. Some commemorate Pullman as a brilliant industrialist, innovator and self-made man. Others view him as a loathsome robber baron, union buster, racist and affront to democracy. This paper aims to demonstrate Pullman’s significant contribution to marketing.

Design/methodology/approach

Historical accounts of Pullman are re-examined to highlight his company’s unique adaptation of numerous marketing techniques (consumer research, brand strategy, public relations, product launch, fashion cycle, advertising, product placement and customer service marketing).

Findings

Pullman’s distinct flair for understanding his market enabled him to develop marketing strategies intertwined with broader cultural changes in ideals and practices. Pullman’s construction of destination tourism met an expanding white middle class desire for recreation and escape from the economic and racial inequality of the city. Pullman’s creed that beauty acted as a civilizing agent spoke to the social norms of leisure class femininity. Constant release of ever-grander rail cars shaped a fashion cycle around which wealthy men’s status competition turned. Pullman pioneered the leasing of luxury to control his best asset: the service of black Porters’.

Originality/value

First, this paper provides a new perspective on George Pullman, a significant figure in US history. Second, it addresses a common bias in nineteenth century historical accounts that privilege the contribution of men, industrial labor and production and shadow the role of consumption, women and leisure. Third, it challenges the idea of a clean divide between industrial and post-industrial economies by tracing contemporary consumer culture practices to their nineteenth century roots (marketing, destination tourism, brand stories, democratization of fashion, tipping and service with a smile).

Details

Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, vol. 12 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-750X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 March 2018

Eduardo Parra-López and José Alberto Martínez-González

The purpose of this study is to synthesize the published works about tourism in the island. Island destinations, especially smaller ones, suffer the negative effects of tourism…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to synthesize the published works about tourism in the island. Island destinations, especially smaller ones, suffer the negative effects of tourism more than other destinations. This is because of the characteristics of island destinations and the negative impacts arising from their inadequate management by different stakeholders. For these reasons, and conversely because tourism favors the social and economic development of islands, there has been a great deal of research published on insular tourism in the literature at a global level. Despite the number of studies carried out from different approaches, none have synthesized this scientific production. Thus, the main contribution of this paper is the use of a bibliometric and descriptive approach to carry out a thorough review of studies published on tourist development in island destinations.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a bibliometric and descriptive approach to carry out a comprehensive review of the published studies on tourism development in island destinations in the past decade with special emphasis on the items analyzed, places of analysis and scientific journals that have addressed this topic.

Findings

The results of the analysis of the literature show the interest of the study of tourism in island destinations. This interest is partly due to the attraction that tourists have for this type of destinations and the need to promote their sustainable management as tourism destinations (Cusick, 2009, Hall, 2011, Cave and Brown, 2012, López, Orgaz, Marmolejo and Alector, 2016). In addition, tourism in island destinations constitutes an opportunity for economic development and benefits both the local population and its visitors (Fabinyi, 2010; Porter et al., 2015).

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of this paper is the great diversity of tourist destinations made up of islands, the complex nature of these destinations and tourism and the quantity and diversity of research carried out into them. This aspect has already been highlighted by other authors and makes it complex to determine which research should be included or excluded in this review.

Practical implications

Importantly, the results allow researchers and decision-makers to identify the main areas of interest in the study of island tourism and the reasons for this interest. They also indicate new areas of interest and in-depth studies. Thus, professionals have a map that shows the most relevant factors in tourism development for this type of destination and the variables that, both from a positive and a negative point of view, influence its development.

Social implications

This research shows that the main areas of interest is island destination are the quality of life of the local community, stakeholder collaboration, sustainability, diversification and seasonality, marketing, consumer behavior/perception and segmentation, planning of tourism activity, information and technology, competitiveness and efficiency.

Originality/value

As evidenced by the amount of research carried out, there is a great deal of interest in tourism in island destinations. This interest arises from the specific characteristics and the interest of tourists themselves in this type of destination, as well as from the negative impacts and opportunities generated by island tourism. Nevertheless, the number of references obtained for tourism in island destinations (N = 949) represents only 0.2 per cent of the total number of studies referring to only “island” in the SCOPUS consultation (339,607 studies). Thus, one of the contributions of this paper has been to highlight the need to continue studying and reviewing in greater depth research on insular tourism.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 73 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 1988

Dennis John Gayle

In 1969, the annual per capita income of Singapore was $650. By 1981, Singapore's gross national product per capita was $5,240. Such productivity placed this small developing…

Abstract

In 1969, the annual per capita income of Singapore was $650. By 1981, Singapore's gross national product per capita was $5,240. Such productivity placed this small developing state among the very wealthiest non‐OPEC developing countries of the world, with an unequalled 1960–82 average annual growth rate of 7.4 per cent. During the decade to 1982, real per capita GNP grew by an average of 9.2 per cent each year. In 1982, gross domestic product amounted to $14 billion. In 1983, Singaporean real GNP grew by 7.2 per cent, a performance matched only by Hong Kong and Taiwan. Unemployment was held to a level of 2.3 per cent and inflation to an even more modest 1.1 per cent. Singapore also achieved the highest national savings rate in the world, at 42 per cent of GDP. These trends produced a 1985 GNP per capita of $7,420, larger than those of Italy, Ireland, Spain, Greece, Portugal and New Zealand; and not much less than those of either Belgium or Britain (World Bank, 1987, p. 203). If the nation's GDP contracted by 1.9 per cent in 1985, it resumed expansion thereafter, at an inflation‐adjusted rate of 1.8 per cent in 1986, and 8.6 per cent in 1987 (Wall Street Journal, 1988, p. 12).

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 15 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1979

In order to succeed in an action under the Equal Pay Act 1970, should the woman and the man be employed by the same employer on like work at the same time or would the woman still…

Abstract

In order to succeed in an action under the Equal Pay Act 1970, should the woman and the man be employed by the same employer on like work at the same time or would the woman still be covered by the Act if she were employed on like work in succession to the man? This is the question which had to be solved in Macarthys Ltd v. Smith. Unfortunately it was not. Their Lordships interpreted the relevant section in different ways and since Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome was also subject to different interpretations, the case has been referred to the European Court of Justice.

Details

Managerial Law, vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0558

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