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The purpose of this paper is to explore empirically manager and employee views on employees’ skills utilisation in organisations in Scotland.

Questionnaires to managers and employees, plus three case studies comprising manager interviews and employee focus groups.

Highly significant differences are found between manager and employee views on: the match of employee skills to their current jobs; the extent of utilisation of employees’ skills; and opportunities for promotion. The main difference in views is on the match of employee skills to their current jobs, with employees opining more than managers that employees’ skills exceed the requirements of their job. Also, for managers and employees alike, the meaning of skills utilisation is obscure despite the language of skills being widely used in organisations.

The scale of the empirical research is possibly limited. There is potential for manager and employee bias. A case study of a private sector organisation is not included.

It is apparent that there is potential to increase employees’ skills utilisation in organisations in Scotland. Managers are challenged with better utilising the skills within their workforces by using these skills to drive improvements in work processes and practices.

Previous commentary and research on skills utilisation mainly centres on policy and employer standpoints. This paper focuses on manager and employee viewpoints on employees’ skills utilisation.

Analyses the notion and value of managing diversity to establish its current theoretical positioning and potential organisational significance. Focuses on a recent case study examination of equality at work in a major, national public sector organisation. Affords an insight into an organisational shift towards managing diversity, through the lens of key organisational stakeholders. Within this case, proposes three emergent practical implications of managing diversity which may have resonance for other public sector organisations.

In the demanding hotel industry, securing organisational commitment among managers can potentially offer dividends in performance. There is, however, limited evidence to suggest that organisations are aware of how they might encourage such commitment. This article aims to develop understanding of organisational commitment among managers in hotels. It explores key facets of commitment from theoretical and practical perspectives. The exploration is based on defining commitment, discussing its main antecedents and outcomes, and then on reporting on a recent study of commitment among managers in large hotels.

The purpose of this paper is to explore different levels of line manager perspectives, namely strategic and first‐line on their role in human resource management (HRM) and human resource development (HRD), and to identify enablers of and barriers to devolving HR to line managers.

Using a deductive approach, case study data was collected from 76 hotels, owned by Hilton UK, via self‐administered questionnaires to strategic and first‐line managers. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the quantitative results, prior to significance tests being conducted in SPSS to identify differences in means based on managerial positions.

A number of points of divergence in opinions are revealed, implying that there is potential for the case organisation to secure greater engagement of its first‐line managers in HR roles. Reducing the workloads and short‐term job pressures of these managers, together with capitalising on the good relations with the hotel HR specialists are means to develop greater engagement. Importantly, improving all line managers’ understanding of the organisational basis of their involvement in HR may bolster their performance in HR activities.

This paper offers a fusion of two theoretical perspectives (HRM and HRD), in addition to identifying differences in perceptions of two different levels of line managers.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a seminar sponsored by the Academy of Management's Gender in Management Special Interest Group, which comprised discussions on aspects of diversity policy, initiatives, and programme development within Bank of Scotland, National Australia Group UK, and BBC Scotland, and also academic and industry presentations.

The report is based upon observations, notes and discussions on a range of issues relating to diversity in organisations.

The seminar highlighted practitioner perspectives of diversity management – both for staff development and for the development of a customer base in the case of banks, by actively encouraging business from female entrepreneurs and by aiming to make mainstream financial products appropriate for both female and male customers.

This report brings together a number of interesting and important themes linked to improvements in female recruitment and development.

The aim of this article is to investigate the incidence and impact of FWAs in smaller businesses in Scotland, as an integral part of a recent European Social Fund project. From theoretical perspectives it discusses the influences on, and impacts of, flexible working arrangements. The focus is then placed on the smaller business sector as regards its distinctive features and flexible working arrangements.

The papers presents the findings from empirical work comprising a large‐scale survey of, and series of interviews with, owner‐managers of smaller businesses in Scotland.

Part‐time work, time off in lieu, staggered working hours and shift swapping are the main types of flexible work in smaller businesses. In many incidences flexible working arrangements are requested by employees, operated informally, and centred on the business needs. There is significant scope for greater uptake of flexible working arrangements in smaller businesses, especially in services sector businesses. Positive impacts of flexible work arrangements in recruitment and retention, enhanced employee relations, commitment and loyalty are found, together with disadvantages of operational problems and administrative burdens. It is proposed that the gap between the potential for, and current practice in, flexible working arrangements may be narrowed by targeting information and guidance on such arrangements specifically to the owner‐managers of smaller businesses.

The literature on flexible working mainly concentrates on large organisations. With the growing economic importance and distinguishing features of the smaller business sector in the UK, there is a need to focus as much on this sector as large organisations.

The relatively under-documented “dark side” of participatory activities facilitated by memory institutions through social media is examined in this study. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the risks and perception of risks resulting from using social media for public engagement and participation.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fourteen representatives from the New Zealand information and cultural heritage sector who at the time of the study were holding the main responsibilities of overseeing the social media and participatory activities of the institutions they represented.

It is not evident that the growth of social web has significantly changed the way the heritage sector seeks participation. Only a small minority of the sample institutions appear to be using social web tools to build community and to enhance their heritage collections. For the majority, institutional use of social media is for creating a “chattering space”. The main concerns identified by interviewees were reputation management and the risk management process followed by most institutions appeared to be reactive, responding to problems as and when they occurred, rather than proactive about risk identification and avoidance.

Findings are not generalisable as the sample size of thirteen institutions is relatively small and is limited to one national context.

Findings provide insight into largely unexplored issues relating to the development of participatory cultures by memory institutions. The paper highlights a key area where further research is needed, namely to explore whether participatory heritage should primarily be about curated viewpoints or whether it should encompass capturing living dialogues, even when conversations are potentially offensive.

The purpose of this paper is to describe how an Academic Health Science Centre, providing pediatric rehabilitation services, research, and education, developed a Centres for Leadership (CfL) initiative to integrate its academic functions and embrace the goal of being a learning organization.

Historical documents, tracked output information, and staff members’ insights were used to describe the ten-year evolution of the initiative, its benefits, and transformational learnings for the organization.

The evolutions concerned development of a series of CfLs, and changes over time in leadership and management structure, as well as in operations and targeted activities. Benefits included enhanced clinician engagement in research, practice-based research, and impacts on clinical practice. Transformational learnings concerned the importance of supporting stakeholder engagement, fostering a spirit of inquiry, and fostering leaderful practice. These learnings contributed to three related emergent outcomes reflecting “way stations” on the journey to enhanced evidence-informed decision making and clinical excellence: enhancements in authentic partnerships, greater innovation capacity, and greater understanding and actualization of leadership values.

Practical information is provided for other organizations interested in understanding how this initiative evolved, its tangible value, and its wider benefits for organizational collaboration, innovation, and leadership values. Challenges encountered and main messages for other organizations are also considered.

A strategy map is used to present the structures, processes, and outcomes arising from the initiative, with the goal of informing the operations of other organizations desiring to be learning organizations.

A management issue that is common in organizations today is how to keep on improving the quality of their products and services and ensure that there is a credible and creditable commitment to outstanding customer service within each member of staff, guaranteeing that customers are satisfied. Which systematic approach should organizations take? Compares and contrasts BS 5750 with the Investors in People Award (IIP), provides a case study example, and offers some conclusions.