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Article
Publication date: 10 October 2016

Allan M. Canonigo

While lesson study may be powerful, it may also be either misguided or superficial. Further, cultural change is difficult and norms such as teacher isolation and autonomy are well…

Abstract

Purpose

While lesson study may be powerful, it may also be either misguided or superficial. Further, cultural change is difficult and norms such as teacher isolation and autonomy are well entrenched. These concerns point to the need for a non-coercive process that has a positive focus, is essentially self-organizing, encourages deep reflection, and avoids the pitfalls of manipulation by school administrators and or knowledgeable others. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a qualitative case study framed by an appreciative inquiry (AI) theoretical research perspective, the author documents the experience of teachers who worked through a complete lesson study cycle with tenth-grade Mathematics in the Philippines, systematically reconstructed from field texts and deliberate co-construction techniques.

Findings

AI can provide the inclusive collaborative relationship for lesson study to be non-coercive because it takes into account the teachers’ voices, provides a relational space for interactions, offers opportunities for meaningful dialogue, empowers teachers to take action, and manages cultural differences, which avoid the dangers of contrived collaboration that are used to manipulate and control teachers. Thus, many of the benefits of lesson study were achieved through deepened relationships and more collegial atmosphere in the schools.

Research limitations/implications

The study was conducted in a public high school participated by three mathematics teachers teaching grade 10. This paper limits only to social interactions and dynamics that emerged when the lesson study was first introduced in a particular school. As its limitation, it did not include revisions of the lesson developed, because this study concerned only on describing the process to engage mathematics teachers in lesson study.

Social implications

This paper poses that more attention needs to be given to the key issues related to social interactions and group dynamics that emerge when lesson study is introduced to existing school cultures and stakeholder relationships.

Originality/value

This first-hand account of using AI as a non-coercive process for teachers to change their practice to collaborate through lesson study hopes to prompt a conversation about the role of culture for lesson study to be successful in schools.

Details

International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, vol. 5 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-8253

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 February 2009

Mette Morsing and Dennis Oswald

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how top managers seek to provide the necessary leadership inside an organisation when sustainability is a primary strategic objective

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how top managers seek to provide the necessary leadership inside an organisation when sustainability is a primary strategic objective, and the paper seeks to ask to what extent it is possible to influence sustainability at the operational level by contemporary management control systems as it proposes to integrate the perspective of organizational culture.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a single case study of Novo Nordisk A/S.

Findings

The paper concludes by asking questions to managerial practice as well as to theory, concerning to what extent sustainability practices are measured by concurrent management control systems, and to what extent organizational culture perspective is a necessary prerequisite to manage and control sustainable leadership practice.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should engage in exploring informal and organizational cultural aspects of how managers control the integration of sustainability into business practice.

Practical implications

The paper is based on a single case study of a company internationally known for its high standards of sustainable leadership practice, and the conclusions therefore provide guidelines for other managers considering ways of integrating sustainability.

Originality/value

The paper brings new attention to the appropriateness of existing management control systems when managers attempt to control sustainability practices and it suggests the importance of organizational culture in an original case study of Novo Nordisk A/S.

Details

Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-0701

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2006

Roy Langer and Signe Thorup

This paper aims to argue for and apply a polyphonic approach to corporate storytelling and organisational change communication. A participatory action research project…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to argue for and apply a polyphonic approach to corporate storytelling and organisational change communication. A participatory action research project demonstrates how recently developed inclusive methodologies that seek to create employee participation have been applied in a case company.

Design/methodology/approach

Case study based on a constructionist approach and four methodological foundations: participatory action research, co‐productive methods (such as organisational photography), appreciative inquiry and strategic change communication teams.

Findings

Results of the organisational change process in the case company show that the application of a polyphonic approach to organisational change communication and storytelling, appreciative inquiry and strategic change communication teams created involvement in and enactment of organisational change based on employees, own values and stories in the case company.

Research limitations/implications

Further research is needed that applies the methodological foundations of this study in other organisational contexts and under different circumstances.

Practical implications

The methodologies and approaches applied in this case cannot be transferred to other organisations directly, but the paper seeks to inspire practitioners with regard to inclusive and empowering approaches to change communication and storytelling.

Originality/value

Argues theoretically, presents and applies recently developed constructionist approaches and co‐productive methods.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 February 2008

Nathan Harris and Jennifer Wood

This chapter is interested in the challenge of governing beyond crime, surveillance and control. It argues for the need to re-imagine the governance of security in ways designed…

Abstract

This chapter is interested in the challenge of governing beyond crime, surveillance and control. It argues for the need to re-imagine the governance of security in ways designed to both build and enrol the capacities of different actors. The authors draw on regulatory theory and the ideas developed in the areas of ‘responsive regulation’ and ‘nodal governance’ to explore the opportunities for, and the challenges associated with designing governance institutions and processes that serve to de-centre hierarchy, command and interventionism as essential rationalities and practices. Its empirical focus is on the case of child protection, where the authors argue for the importance of nurturing the capacities of families and communities to govern both beyond and in tandem with hierarchical modalities. It is hoped that the theoretical issues raised and the agenda articulated can be engaged with across a variety of empirical domains.

Details

Surveillance and Governance: Crime Control and Beyond
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1416-4

Abstract

Details

Technology and (Dis)Empowerment: A Call to Technologists
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-393-5

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2006

Martin Clarke and David Butcher

The aim of this paper is to promote the concept of organizational voluntarism, borrowed from political philosophy and to stimulate feedback and debate as to its efficacy in

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to promote the concept of organizational voluntarism, borrowed from political philosophy and to stimulate feedback and debate as to its efficacy in furthering the discourse on corporate responsibility.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines a range of current theories that address the issue of balancing organizational plurality and coherence. It identifies both shortfalls in current research and provides criteria for developing new theory in this area. The concept of organizational voluntarism is developed and these criteria used to test the robustness of the model and to explore future areas of research.

Findings

The criteria used to assess the voluntarism model are: the centrality of organizational plurality, the embeddedness of social relations and power in organization working, accounting for the motivations of managers to work this way; and the need for clear organizational benefits. Four potential cognitions are proposed that define a voluntaristic mindset.

Research limitations/implications

The aim is only to develop the concept of voluntarism and promote debate about its value as an organizing principle in multi stakeholder settings.

Practical implications

The paper offers a research proposition that managers who pursue voluntaristic behaviour will be influenced by cognitions that reflect plurality of interests, the value of personal interest, the need to “take” authority and who value political models of working in the reconciliation of competing interests.

Originality/value

The paper provides an additional perspective that can further the development of corporate responsibility by mediating the demands for corporate control and efficiency and the calls for greater inclusion.

Details

Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, vol. 6 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-0701

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 6 October 2014

Dianne Shober

The gap in gender equity is profoundly evident in academia, particularly in the area of positional and financial remuneration for women, and, although a global phenomena, it is…

Abstract

Purpose

The gap in gender equity is profoundly evident in academia, particularly in the area of positional and financial remuneration for women, and, although a global phenomena, it is particularly acute in South Africa.

Methodology

The case study was conducted through one-on-one interviews with fourteen academic and upper management staff members on the East London campus of the University of Fort Hare, South Africa. Participants represented men and women of varied ages, ethnicities, and positions within the University.

Findings

This research indicates that women find themselves discriminated by their maternal responsibilities, as well as complaints that their management styles are more emotionally subjective and less efficient. Some respondents find competition not camaraderie with other women also complicate the workplace, and others determine race and gender equally play significant roles in their promotability, research funding, and publication possibilities.

Research limitations

The case study was restricted to the academic and upper management staff from one selected university in the nation.

Practical implications

According to this research, women are less likely to be promoted to upper management or professorial positions and, if they are, find it quite arduous to be accepted within these roles, due in part to stereotypes which deem them less effective in upper level positions.

Social implications

Transformation in gender equity policy and practices is still necessary and women must pursue gender equality in every area of the institutional structures of academia.

Originality/value

No similar study has been conducted at South African universities.

Details

Gender Transformation in the Academy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-070-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 July 2021

Biswa Swarup Misra

The purpose of this paper is to examine political accountability to the voter in India by studying re-election patterns in 14 major states categorized as leading and lagging…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine political accountability to the voter in India by studying re-election patterns in 14 major states categorized as leading and lagging during the period 1952–2015.

Design/methodology/approach

This study has computed a state-wise re-election index by taking the ratio of the number of constituencies exhibiting re-election in four consecutive terms during 1952–1999 to the total number of constituencies in the state. The time-invariant re-election index as of the year 1999 is used to estimate the impact of the re-election on per capita state income during 2001–2015. This paper has used the correlated random effects estimation procedure that considers the state-specific unobserved factors while using a time-invariant regressor to ascertain the impact of re-election.

Findings

This study finds that persistent re-election does not seem to lead to better development outcomes. When this study computes the re-election index by excluding constituencies that are underdeveloped both in the economic and social spheres, this paper finds the asymmetric impact of re-election for the leading and the lagging states. The findings suggest that historical institutions in the laggings states could be driving the empirical results. The empirical findings are corroborated by the relatively poor availability of basic amenities in constituencies exhibiting persistent re-election when compared to the state average.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that the provision of re-election without term limits may need to be revisited in the lagging states for better political accountability.

Originality/value

First, the authors study the pattern of constituency-wise re-election to compute state-wise re-election index to capture persistent re-election. Second, the authors assess the development status of a constituency by mapping it to the development indicators of the district in which the constituency is located. This paper considers both economic as well social indicators of development. Third, the time-invariant nature of the re-election index helps to address reverse causality while studying the impact of re-election on development. Fourth, the authors use a novel econometric methodology to study the impact of the re-election on development given the time-invariant characteristic of the re-election index.

Details

Indian Growth and Development Review, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8254

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2002

Yvonne Craig

Complex conflicts in elder abuse, its causes, typology, protection and prevention, suggest that co‐operation by multi‐disciplinary social services should be a major consideration…

Abstract

Complex conflicts in elder abuse, its causes, typology, protection and prevention, suggest that co‐operation by multi‐disciplinary social services should be a major consideration in policy decision‐making, planned intervention and support. Casework of the Elder Mediation Project (EMP for empowerment), and related agencies, provides some practical evidence for this view. There are shared casework values and similar as well as different skills. However, when service user interests are paramount, the professional concerns of service providers for defined roles and boundaries raise ethical issues. Are there conflicts between old people's needs for trusting, confidential relationships with one worker, and case co‐ordinators' promotion of varied specialist input? Could approaching elder abuse through a multi‐skilled key worker, as well as by multi‐disciplinary social service workers, offer complementary and co‐operative interventions? Brief anonymised case notes suggest that practitioners may face professional conflicts about social intervention as casework diversifies and service user involvement in decision‐making increases, but some guidelines to good practice are offered.

Details

Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, vol. 3 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-7794

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 14 May 2013

Tanya Vacharkulksemsuk and Barbara L. Fredrickson

Experimental evidence for aspects of the broaden-and-build theory actually existed prior to the theory’s introduction to the academic world. Generally speaking, laboratory studies…

Abstract

Experimental evidence for aspects of the broaden-and-build theory actually existed prior to the theory’s introduction to the academic world. Generally speaking, laboratory studies showed a causal effect of positive feelings on thought processes. Across a host of studies, Isen and her colleagues demonstrated a wide range of cognitive outcomes resulting from induced positive emotions, including patterns of unusual thought (Isen, Johnson, Mertz, & Robinson, 1985), flexible thinking (Isen & Daubman, 1984), creativity (Isen, Daubman, & Nowicki, 1987), and receptivity to new information (Estrada, Isen, & Young, 1997).

Details

Advances in Positive Organizational Psychology
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-000-1

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