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1 – 10 of 275Newman M.K. Lam and James MacGregor
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether deeply rooted ethnic values persist in public administration in spite of strong foreign influence in education and administrative…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether deeply rooted ethnic values persist in public administration in spite of strong foreign influence in education and administrative culture.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents the theories and concepts on ethnic values, in particular Chinese and Canadian administrative values in order to examine their differences. Victoria of Canada and Hong Kong of China, both former British colonies, have been selected as the study sites due to their similarity in British education and administrative culture. Comparable samples of human subjects were drawn from the public sectors of Hong Kong and Victoria, who were either students or graduates of a master of public administration program. A questionnaire containing questions on program evaluation and staff promotion was administered to participants.
Findings
The survey results show that, while organizations may have similar administrative systems and cultures, employees revert to their ethnic values for matters concerning their immediate well-being – staff promotion in this case. The findings also suggest that employees endorse good practices and reject bad ones more often than they believe their organizations do.
Research limitations/implications
The purpose of this study is to examine whether lengthy foreign influence can change deeply rooted ethnic culture. The research results are not aimed at and may not be relevant to explaining a current situation.
Practical implications
The research findings may help improve public administration, in particular regarding issues of human resources management.
Social implications
The research findings may provide a better understanding of social behavior in the work place.
Originality/value
This paper contains original data for a comparative analysis that appears to have never been done before. It provides empirical proof that deeply rooted ethnics values are very difficult to change in spite of a long history of foreign influence.
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James MacGregor and J. Barton Cunningham
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the results from two public sector organizations to test a model of the organizational antecedents and health consequences of sickness…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the results from two public sector organizations to test a model of the organizational antecedents and health consequences of sickness presenteeism (SP) in the workplace.
Design/methodology/approach
The study reports on two surveys of public employees, one including 237 respondents and another of 391 employees. The combined sample allowed for the testing of a model of organizational antecedents and the health consequences of SP.
Findings
The results supported the model, indicating that increased leader support and goal clarity decrease SP indirectly through increased trust. Decreasing presenteeism is associated with decreased sickness absence and better health.
Practical implications
The key practical application is in encouraging managers and scholars to recognize that the costs of presenteeism are as higher or higher than the costs of absenteeism.
Social implications
The social implications are clear in helping us recognize that when people come to work sick, they are not productive and are endangering the productivity of others.
Originality/value
This is the first time that research had defined and operationalized a causal model linking antecedents such as leader-member relations, goal clarity and trust with SP and absenteeism.
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Sir Kingsley Wood, the Minister of Health, speaking at Plymouth on September 15th, said the problem of nutrition was one to which increased attention must be given in the light of…
Abstract
Sir Kingsley Wood, the Minister of Health, speaking at Plymouth on September 15th, said the problem of nutrition was one to which increased attention must be given in the light of modern scientific knowledge. In all our consideration of it we should not forget the necessity of pure, wholesome food. The consumption of food of all kinds in the United Kingdom had grown considerably. To‐day it was probably over 25 million tons a year. The consumption of dairy products and of eggs, fruit and vegetables, so important to good nutrition, had greatly increased. It was vital to our good health that our food supply should not only be unimpaired by the addition of harmful substances, but that there should be no abstraction from articles of food of their proper qualities. It was only fair that the public should get what they asked and paid for. There had undoubtedly been a considerable improvement in the food standards in this country. It had been achieved largely by the Health Authorities and their professional advisers, as well as producers and manufacturers themselves. Some 60 years ago some 15,000 samples only were submitted to Public Analysts, and over 19 per cent. were found to be adulterated or not up to standard. Last year over 143,000 samples were submitted—the highest on record—and the percentage adulterated or not up to standard was a little over 5 per cent. For a variety of reasons the true percentage of adulterated food was probably less than was indicated in this figure. It could be fairly said that nowadays there was very little gross adulteration or deliberate substitution of one article of food for another. But we still had to be vigilant to see to it that the public had some sort of guarantee that they were getting what they asked for, and that food did not contain ingredients which would render it injurious to health. The consumer's interest must always come first both from the point of view of fair trading and good health. There was also no doubt about the high nutritional value of milk, and we must do all we can to increase the consumption of clean and safe milk.
– The purpose is to present a case study on transformational leadership.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose is to present a case study on transformational leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
It adopts the 4 I's of Bernard M. Bass, the leadership researcher – individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and idealized influence.
Findings
It emphasizes that leaders have to act according to the situation, with more emphasis on transformational leadership, for motivating their people and institutions to achieve their goals and objectives.
Practical implications
It stresses the importance of accepting feedback and making bold decisions, to ensure the longevity of an academic institution and achieve academic excellence.
Social implications
It provides an example of a passionate academic leader who leads from the front through his visionary leadership.
Originality/value
It describes how to turn around an educational institution through academic leadership.
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Reports on the role of UK emigrants to the USA in the creation and early development of its public accountancy profession. Explains findings in the context of US public…
Abstract
Reports on the role of UK emigrants to the USA in the creation and early development of its public accountancy profession. Explains findings in the context of US public accountancy firms founded by UK immigrants and focuses on the recruitment of qualified and unqualified public accountants from the UK. The study is based on searches of relevant archives in the UK and USA. The evidence reveals UK immigrants played a substantial part in the formation and early development of both public accountancy firms and institutions in the USA. However, the recruitment of immigrants by US firms appears to have been a temporary phenomenon pending the supply of US‐born accountants with suitable training and experience. The firms examined include local and national firms. Subject to data retrieval limitations, a major conclusion of the study is that unqualified immigrants played significant roles in the early histories of firms and institutions of US public accountancy.
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Modern leaders need to encourage their organizations to thrive on innovation and embrace opportunities to do things differently. Based on the author's experience training…
Abstract
Purpose
Modern leaders need to encourage their organizations to thrive on innovation and embrace opportunities to do things differently. Based on the author's experience training executives, the paper aims to conclude that successful leaders inspire enthusiasm for change through communication that is fundamentally differently from the traditional, abstract approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Effective leaders communicate by first getting attention, then stimulating desire and only then reinforcing with reasons. The paper explains the surprising method that works best in practice.
Findings
The paper finds a surprisingly effective change management skill: learn to tell simple, attention getting stories that enable audiences to recognize and choose future possibilities that they have hitherto missed.
Practical implications
An ability to spark enthusiasm for change through the use of simple but powerful narratives becomes an essential competence for all leaders in the organization.
Originality/value
The paper reveals that the kinds of stories that are effective for leaders in stimulating desire for change are very different from what most people expect.
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As the author defines “followership” followers cannot have authority. But, they can and increasingly they do have power and influence. Social media embolden followers to pressure…
Abstract
Purpose
As the author defines “followership” followers cannot have authority. But, they can and increasingly they do have power and influence. Social media embolden followers to pressure leaders, to push leaders as they never have previously been pressured or pushed. The author explores the consequences of this new dynamic.
Design/methodology/approach
The author urges that a curriculum be developed by academics and trainers that includes teaching the fundamentals of followership and learning what constitutes a follower who is as ethical as effective.
Findings
History is replete with examples of what goes wrong when individual answerability is abdicated and followers have the responsibility learn how to use their power to pressure their organizations to act ethically and morally.
Originality/value
Implicit in the growing if still modest interest in followers by researchers and trainers is the implication that the leadership industry is now obliged – for moral, intellectual and practical reasons – to pay them some increased level of attention. This article makes the case that followers have more power than ever before and need to learn how to use it ethically and morally.
James N. MacGregor, J. Barton Cunningham and Natasha Caverley
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship of stressful life events and health related events with sickness absenteeism and presenteeism (attending work while…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship of stressful life events and health related events with sickness absenteeism and presenteeism (attending work while ill or injured).
Design/methodology/approach
A web‐based survey was conducted within a public service organization which had just undergone a significant downsizing, where the workforce was reduced by over 30 per cent.
Findings
The findings indicated that stressful life events were significantly associated with both presenteeism and absenteeism, to the same degree.
Research limitations/implications
These results extend previous research in suggesting that employees are substituting presenteeism for absenteeism. However, different health risks (chronic conditions vs needing counselling support) were more likely to predict absenteeism than presenteeism.
Originality/value
By supporting a substitution hypothesis, the present study suggests that both presenteeism and absenteeism are important measures of employee health and organizational productivity.
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We deeply regret to record the sudden death of Benjamin Henry Gerrans, F.I.C., at Clapham Park, on August 12th. For many years he had been chief assistant to the late Colonel…
Abstract
We deeply regret to record the sudden death of Benjamin Henry Gerrans, F.I.C., at Clapham Park, on August 12th. For many years he had been chief assistant to the late Colonel Charles E. Cassal, upon whose decease he became Public Analyst for Kensington, the Borough of Battersea, additional Public Analyst for the City of Westminster, Public Analyst for the Kesteven and Holland divisions of Lincolnshire, and for the Borough of Chepping Wycombe. At the time of his death he was Public Analyst for the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea and Official Agricultural Analyst for the Kesteven and Holland Divisions of Lincolnshire. In 1895 he was appointed as a Gas Examiner to the London County Council, in 1910 to the Urban District Council of Sittingbourne, and in 1921 to the County Borough of West Ham. For thirty‐eight years he was a member of the Consulting Scientific Staff of the British Analytical Control. His death will be keenly felt by all those who were privileged to know him and to appraise his worth. He was elected an Associate of the Institute of Chemistry in 1888.