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1 – 10 of 246Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton
This article advocates for evidenced‐based management and aims to demonstrate how it works.
Abstract
Purpose
This article advocates for evidenced‐based management and aims to demonstrate how it works.
Design/methodology/approach
The article identifies seven implementation principles to help people and companies that are committed to doing what it takes to profit from evidence‐based management.
Findings
The seven principles are: treat your organization as an unfinished prototype; no brag, just facts; see yourself and your organization as outsiders do; evidence‐based management is not just for senior executives; like everything else, you still need to sell evidenced‐based management; if all else fails, slow the spread of bad practices; and the best diagnostic question: what happens when people fail?
Research limitations/implications
A follow‐up article needs to show results when firms institute evidence‐based management.
Practical implications
A key underpinning of evidence‐based management are three truths: that most so‐called breakthrough ideas are either old, wrong, or both; that effective companies and leaders are more interested in what is true than what is new; and that those that do simple, obvious, and even seemingly trivial things well will dominate competitors who search for silver bullets and instant magic.
Originality/value
The article explains why the implementation of evidenced‐based management promotes competitive advantage.
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Keywords
Ferhat Devrim Zengul, Justin Lord, Ganisher Davlyatov, Akbar Ghiasi, Gregory Orewa and Robert Weech-Maldonado
Residents in under-resourced/high-Medicaid (85% or higher) nursing homes on average receive care from relatively lower quality providers and have worse health outcomes, which may…
Abstract
Residents in under-resourced/high-Medicaid (85% or higher) nursing homes on average receive care from relatively lower quality providers and have worse health outcomes, which may increase the risk of higher COVID-19 incidence. This study aims to evaluate if having a culture that encourages employee empowerment results in better quality (lower COVID-19 deaths) in times of crisis, such as the current pandemic. The study combined primary survey data from 391 Directors of Nursing (response rate of 37%), with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Nursing Home COVID-19 Public File, LTCFocus, Area Health Resource File, and Nursing Home Compare. The dependent variable consisted of the number of COVID-19 death as of November 25, 2021. The independent variables consisted of Likert scale for employee empowerment (Cronbach alpha= 0.82). Control variables consisted of organizational factors (e.g., size, location, and ownership), as well as community factors (e.g., poverty, unemployment, and competition). The results indicated that one unit increase in employee empowerment was associated with 6% lower likelihood of having COVID-19 deaths. Nursing homes, particularly those under-resourced, face difficulty improving the quality of care due to financial constraints. However, the results suggest that adopting a culture that fosters employee empowerment may give nursing homes an edge in improving quality outcomes in crises.
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For insights into the debate between consultants who advocate authentic, character-based leadership and those that believe leadership is primarily an exercise of political power…
Abstract
Purpose
For insights into the debate between consultants who advocate authentic, character-based leadership and those that believe leadership is primarily an exercise of political power, S & L interviewed Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, author of Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time.
Design/methodology/approach
Professor Pfeffer believes “By any measure or set of relevant measures, the leadership industry has failed and continues to do so.” The interviewer asks him why he reached this conclusion and what implications this has for practitioners.
Findings
Simply put, leaders need to be true to what others need from them, not to how they may be feeling.
Practical implications
Professor Pfeffer offers a reminder of the enduring functionality of political skills and acumen in the workplace, which many adherents of the “inspirational leadership” approach don’t seem to want to embrace.
Originality/value
Professor Pfeffer offers a no-holds-barred account of the intersection of modern workplace realities and self-interested leadership.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the relevant sayings and stories of the ancient Chinese sages in relation to the style of Chinese human resource management (HRM).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relevant sayings and stories of the ancient Chinese sages in relation to the style of Chinese human resource management (HRM).
Design/methodology/approach
Related texts generated from the quotations and stories from four Chinese sages, Guanzi, Hanfeizi, Xunzi and Yanzi, were translated and analyzed and their thinking regarding ruling the state and managing the people was discussed in line with the thoughts from the mainstream and modern Western management gurus such as Warren Bennis, Peter Drucker, Mary Parker Follett, Douglas McGregor, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Elton Mayo and Jeffrey Pfeffer.
Findings
It was found that there were striking similarities in thoughts and call for actions to address key issues in HRM by both old and contemporary, east and west thinkers across 2,500 years. The main concerns are to select the right leaders and managers and recruit the right people; create attractive organisational culture and environments that promote a participative management approach to encourage, empower and engage employees to achieve desirable outcomes; uphold the people‐centred management principles; and focus on designing reward schemes that emphasise service and contribution instead of position and profits.
Originality/value
There is much to be learned from the past to address the present people management issues among modern organisations both inside China and perhaps from other parts of the world. It was as difficult to take seriously the principles‐based ruling and management approaches in ancient times as it is today. However, if these principles had been put into practice, the world would have had fewer of the corporate corruption scandals and less of the mischievous behaviour in the state that are manifested in today's society, but more productive population, effective organisations, ethical governments and harmonious environment; hence less global human suffering.
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This chapter attempts to explain why the community of scholars at Stanford University generated an unparalleled amount of highly influential theory and research on organizations…
Abstract
This chapter attempts to explain why the community of scholars at Stanford University generated an unparalleled amount of highly influential theory and research on organizations in the last three decades of the 20th century.1
This article examines the application of "resource dependency theory" to transnational corporations (TNCs) operating in host countries like Bangladesh to explain the relationship…
Abstract
This article examines the application of "resource dependency theory" to transnational corporations (TNCs) operating in host countries like Bangladesh to explain the relationship between the TNCs and Bangladesh. Data indicate that while the TNCs' participation in a third world host country is encouraged primarily for promoting its economic development, TNCs are mainly attracted by market size, purchasing capacities (determined mainly by GNP) of the population, and stable political condition of the country. Although examination of the application of resource dependency theory provides some insights into understanding the complicated relationship between TNCs and Bangladesh, several other factors, not explained by resource dependency theory, help explain the behavior of TNCs in a host country
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Corporate culture is a spirit formed by the shared values of the individuals in the organization that has potential to make the library more than the sum of its parts, both…
Abstract
Corporate culture is a spirit formed by the shared values of the individuals in the organization that has potential to make the library more than the sum of its parts, both positively and negatively. It is the vehicle by which the organization defines itself, for both itself and the clientele, with the purpose of providing the best service possible by sharing a vision of the organization as an organic whole. It operates through the power of peer influence rather than direct vertical authority. This paper takes a holistic approach to a concept that is more complex than it first appears; it addresses the molding of corporate culture, not as a management function, but as a complex and deep system, being in effect the soul of the organization, which resides in the motivation of each individual and which, therefore, requires a special kind of leadership.
Every paper needs a theme. Luckily, the venue defines the theme for me; how did the initial conditions at Stanford affect the development and diffusion of population ecology as a…
Abstract
Every paper needs a theme. Luckily, the venue defines the theme for me; how did the initial conditions at Stanford affect the development and diffusion of population ecology as a theoretical research program. I use the term theoretical research program reluctantly, especially considering the context of the department of sociology at Stanford University during the 1970s and 1980s (Lakatos & Musgrave, 1970). Nonetheless, I believe that population ecology can be usefully described as such. It is not a theory but rather a collection of theories developing over time with progressive problem shifts. There are methodological rules that define what paths of research to pursue and to avoid (Pfeffer, 1993, p. 613).