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Case study
Publication date: 5 June 2018

John L. Ward

As founders of First Interstate BancSystem, which held $8.6 billion in assets and had recently become a public company, and Padlock Ranch, which had over 11,000 head of cattle…

Abstract

As founders of First Interstate BancSystem, which held $8.6 billion in assets and had recently become a public company, and Padlock Ranch, which had over 11,000 head of cattle, the Scott family had to think carefully about business and family governance. Now entering its fifth generation, the family had over 80 shareholders across the US. In early 2016, the nine-member Scott Family Council (FC) and other family and business leaders considered the effectiveness of the Family Governance Leadership Development Initiative launched two years earlier. The initiative's aim was to ensure a pipeline of capable family leaders for the business boards, two foundation boards, and FC.

Seven family members had self-nominated for governance roles in mid-2015. As part of the development initiative, each was undergoing a leadership development process that included rigorous assessment and creation of a comprehensive development plan. As the nominees made their way through the process and other family members considered nominating themselves for future development, questions remained around several interrelated areas, including how to foster family engagement with governance roles while guarding against damaging competition among members; how to manage possible conflicts of interest around dual employee and governance roles; and how to extend the development process to governance for the foundations and FC. The FC considered how best to answer these and other questions, and whether the answers indicated the need to modify the fledgling initiative.

This case illustrates the challenges multigenerational family-owned enterprises face in developing governance leaders within the family. It serves as a good example of governance for a large group of cousins within a multienterprise portfolio. Students can learn and apply insights from this valuable illustration of family values, vision, and mission statement.

Article
Publication date: 14 April 2023

Rodney James Scott and Eleanor R.K. Merton

A central question of public administration is how political principals secure the cooperation of administrators within organisational frames and contexts; increasingly, rational…

Abstract

Purpose

A central question of public administration is how political principals secure the cooperation of administrators within organisational frames and contexts; increasingly, rational influences are being considered alongside bounded rationality and non-rational influences. This paper aims to explore the intent of New Zealand’s Public Service Act 2020 in managing administrative behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is primarily ethnographic, combining emic and etic perspectives. A mixed-methods approach comprises participant observer field notes and meeting documentation, substantiated by official documents; documents were analysed thematically and triangulated with other data sources.

Findings

The Public Service Act introduces new bounds on administrative behaviour. The stated rationale for these changes reveals an attempt to set limits on the principal–agent relationship between politicians and administrators and causes predictable deviations from rational behaviour by cultivating public service motivation and a unified public service identity.

Research limitations/implications

As the legislation in question was only passed in 2020, it is too early to definitively assess the ultimate impact of legislation on administrative behaviour. This case study demonstrates that behavioural approaches to public administration are being applied intentionally by governments. The choice architecture created in the case study blends rational, bounded, and non-rational influences. Together, this produces a bricolage of semi-relevant theories from other disciplines, especially psychology, to explain administrative behaviour. Further refinement is needed to develop a cohesive and comprehensive theory of administrative behaviour that can account for contemporary practice.

Practical implications

Administrators act as agents of political principals, within ethical and rules-based limitations and influenced by public service motivation and social identity. Shifting from implicit to explicit choice architecture does not negate possible tensions between bounds and can signal them more explicitly. Shared symbols are sometimes intended to influence identity and therefore adherence to behavioural norms.

Originality/value

This paper explores the manipulation of choice architecture as a viable strategy for altering behaviour for the better and, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is the first known instance of choice architecture being “legislated in” rather than merely “showing through”. This study illustrates the blending of rational, boundedly rational and non-rational factors into a choice architecture for public administrators that help mediate the biases and challenges of principal–agent relationships (which form a cascade in New Zealand’s public administration system).

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 31 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 22 December 2005

Michael G. Hillard

Labor management cooperation, and the adoption of high-performance work systems (HPWS), are central topics in recent industrial relations research, with much emphasis given to…

Abstract

Labor management cooperation, and the adoption of high-performance work systems (HPWS), are central topics in recent industrial relations research, with much emphasis given to “best-practice” success stories. This paper uses a case study analysis, relying on conventional, and oral history interviews, to explore why managers, union leaders, and workers in two Maine paper mills rejected the cooperation and the HPWS model. It explores how local history and culture, regional factors like the dramatic International Paper (IP) strike in Jay, Maine, instability in industry labor relations, management turnover, and instability in corporate governance contributed to these two mills’ rejection of Scott Paper Corporation's “Jointness” initiative during the period from 1988 to 1995. The study argues that intra-management divisions blocked cooperation on the management side, and that the Jay strike created a “movement culture” among Maine's paper workers, who developed a class-conscious critique of HPWS as a tactic in class warfare being perpetrated by paper corporations.

Details

Advances in Industrial & Labor Relations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76231-265-8

Article
Publication date: 11 August 2022

James Scott Vandeventer, Javier Lloveras and Gary Warnaby

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise how place management practices in UK housing associations (HAs) involve processes of ecological place management.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise how place management practices in UK housing associations (HAs) involve processes of ecological place management.

Design/methodology/approach

Ethnographic fieldwork focusing on how communal spaces are organised on a housing estate in a UK city revealed the importance of negotiation with other actors, including an HA which is responsible for managing the estate. The authors draw on extensive participant observation with residents, as well as interviews with both residents and employees of the HA, to show the wider forces and complexities involved in these ecological place management practices.

Findings

This paper identifies hybrid socio-ecological, socio-political and political-economic dynamics unfolding as places are managed and organised. These widen the scope of place management research and practice to account for multiple ways places are organised.

Research limitations/implications

This paper offers a critical perspective on place management, developing an ecological approach that is applicable both to the relatively new context of housing and to more established sites in town and city centres.

Practical implications

This paper’s findings point to ways that housing and place management practitioners, both in the UK and elsewhere, can use an ecological approach to re-frame their strategic and practical actions with regards to “place”.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to unveiling the complexity involved in place management and organisation, thereby encouraging place managers to embrace ecological thinking capable of addressing future challenges.

Details

Journal of Place Management and Development, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8335

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2022

Scott James Davies and José Luis Egas

The objective of the study is to investigate whether hospitality leaders feel there is a circular economy (CE) created through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives…

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of the study is to investigate whether hospitality leaders feel there is a circular economy (CE) created through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and whether these initiatives improve quality of work life (QWL) for employees. A qualitative, case study approach was adopted which included a set of standardized questions as a discussion tool to explore senior hospitality professionals' perceptions of their companies' CSR initiatives and connection between CSR and QWL.

Design/methodology/approach

A series of interview questions consisting of seven open-ended questions and four Likert-type scale questions were formulated to explore how the representatives from case study companies implement CSR initiatives in the workplace. The questions were also used to probe the impact of CSR initiatives on QWL for employees and additionally, respondent views on aspects of the CE.

Findings

Examines the impact of hospitality and tourism on the environment and also its employee retention challenges. Interviews conducted with three managers reveal awareness of the potential QWL benefits of CSR practices. Findings suggest that successful, on-the-ground practice involves adapting corporate principles for each property.

Originality/value

The article showcases three interviews with senior employees from different properties in different world regions. The aim being to probe, how they approach their CSR strategies and the impact on QoL. While there is much interest in these issues, comparatively little has been published to-date on the relationships between CSR and QoL.

Details

Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-4217

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2005

Enrique S. Pumar

Recently there has been a resurgence in the study of how ideas shape policies. Two perspectives which dominate this literature are what Habermas has called the…

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Abstract

Recently there has been a resurgence in the study of how ideas shape policies. Two perspectives which dominate this literature are what Habermas has called the empirical‐analytical tradition and historical‐hermeneutic tradition. These two epistemological positions represent contrasting views. They depict very different pictures of how ideas sway popular values and the policy choices confronted by policymakers. Each also raises important questions about how the processes of knowledge formation and promotion unfold and what actors play a dominant role in furthering these developments.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 25 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 18 December 2016

Linling Gao-Miles

This chapter is an inquiry into the paradoxes in discourses of ethnicity and race as well as of diversity and inclusion, centering on current movements in higher education. It…

Abstract

This chapter is an inquiry into the paradoxes in discourses of ethnicity and race as well as of diversity and inclusion, centering on current movements in higher education. It aims to problematize the essentialized racial structure in American social discourses while re-evaluating academic institutions’ approaches to diversity. With a focus on Asian American students, it employs student narrations and statistical evidence to underline the neglected aspects of the heterogeneity, hybridity, and marginalization of “Asians.” The complex diversity among “Asians” and their ambiguous positionality provide insights into the challenges and paradoxes of our conceptions and practices of ethnicity, race, and diversity in general. On the one hand, I argue about the risk of prevalent practices that, to varying degrees, reconsolidate the black-white dichotomy; as they constantly strengthen disparities between the two races under the premises of the homogeneity within each category, they exclude the experiences of non-black minorities in social spheres. On the other hand, I challenge the disjuncture of diversity in theory versus in practice. While calling for a multiracial coalition to practice diversity and inclusion, I underscore the salience of unbiased perspectives in pedagogical approaches, in which, interethnicity and multiraciality are promoted, as hybrid identities beyond race are recognized. This de-Eurocentric approach ultimately aims to undermine racial essentialization and white supremacy.

Details

The Crisis of Race in Higher Education: A Day of Discovery and Dialogue
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-710-6

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1996

Buford Farris

In one of his later works, Professional Ethics and Civic Morals, Durkheim makes a distinction between the concept of equality based on merit and equality based on charity. He…

Abstract

In one of his later works, Professional Ethics and Civic Morals, Durkheim makes a distinction between the concept of equality based on merit and equality based on charity. He proposed that the concept of merit is implied in the ethical justification of a fair contract and involves both distributive and commutative justice.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 16 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Article
Publication date: 18 January 2016

Lei Zhang and Xiongwei Peng

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel and simple prediction model of long-term metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) gas sensor baseline, and it brings some new perspectives…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel and simple prediction model of long-term metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) gas sensor baseline, and it brings some new perspectives for sensor drift. MOS gas sensors, which play a very important role in electronic nose (e-nose), constantly change with the fluctuation of environmental temperature and humidity (i.e. drift). Therefore, it is very meaningful to realize the long-term time series estimation of sensor signal for drift compensation.

Design/methodology/approach

In the proposed sensor baseline drift prediction model, auto-regressive moving average (ARMA) and Kalman filter models are used. The basic idea is to build the ARMA and Kalman models on the short-term sensor signal collected in a short period (one month) by an e-nose and aim at realizing the long-term time series prediction in a year using the obtained model.

Findings

Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach based on ARMA and Kalman filter is very effective in time series prediction of sensor baseline signal in e-nose.

Originality/value

Though ARMA and Kalman filter are well-known models in signal processing, this paper, at the first time, brings a new perspective for sensor drift prediction problem based on the two typical models.

Details

Sensor Review, vol. 36 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0260-2288

Keywords

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