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1 – 10 of 149Paula S. Weber and James E. Weber
This study explored employee trust in management, perceptions of supervisory support for improvement, and perceptions of organizational readiness for change during a planned…
Abstract
This study explored employee trust in management, perceptions of supervisory support for improvement, and perceptions of organizational readiness for change during a planned organizational change effort. Employee data were gathered at two time periods six months apart. Time 1 data were collected just prior to the start of a major change initiative. Time 2 data were collected six months after the change was initiated. Results show a significant increase in supervisory support for improvement and perceptions of organizational readiness for change from time 1 to time 2. Findings also suggest that differences in perceptions of supervisory support for improvement and organizational readiness for change along with trust in management were moderated by goal clarity, employee participation, autonomy, and feedback. Practical implications of these findings are discussed.
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This chapter discusses the empirical application of a class of strategic network formation models, using the approach to identification introduced by de Paula, Richards-Shubik…
Abstract
This chapter discusses the empirical application of a class of strategic network formation models, using the approach to identification introduced by de Paula, Richards-Shubik, and Tamer (2018). The author emphasizes the interplay between model specification and computational complexity, and suggests tactics to make empirically realistic models become tractable. Two detailed examples, on friendship networks and coauthorship networks, are used to illustrate these issues and to demonstrate the performance of the approach with both simulation and empirical evidence. Also, the author presents extensions to the estimation method, which expand the potential range of applications, and which provide statistical inference with minimal computational burden.
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In this paper, we examine the social stratification in the favelas, urban slums, both in general and how it correlates with technology. The analysis is based on Weberian…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, we examine the social stratification in the favelas, urban slums, both in general and how it correlates with technology. The analysis is based on Weberian stratification theory, since it provides for a broad understanding of the different factors that make up the digital inequalities.
Methodology/approach
Based on a 10-month critical ethnographic research dealing with LAN houses and state supported telecenters in the favelas of Vitória, Brazil, we analyze how the use of technology by residents of such marginalized areas expands our understanding of Weber’s axes of stratification, namely class, status and political power. The data was drawn from user observations, Facebook interactions, and 76 semi-structured interviews.
Findings
The drug cartel members belonged to the higher class of favela residents due to their access to material resources and ability to afford smartphones and data plans. However, in terms of status groups, they did not represent the pinnacle of the community. Where status was concerned, the highest stratum of the community was composed of the “Facebook’s celebrities,” the few teenagers who knew how to produce content online, such as images and videos. An additional axis of social differentiation, related to political power, was observed during the 2013 protests in Brazil. Favela residents arrived late to the event and found themselves “fighting” for demands stipulated previously by the organizers who belonged to upper classes.
Originality/value
We highlight what access to ICTs can, and cannot, accomplish in a “highly disorganized,” conflict-ridden, and institution-poor environment. With that we hope to encourage academics and practitioners to do a better job in developing appropriate policies and technologies.
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Maria Salete Batista Freitag, Jéssica Borges de Carvalho, Altair Camargo Filho and Fernanda Paula Arantes
The purpose of this study is to investigate how the process of becoming an entrepreneur in the cooperation and poverty contexts takes place.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate how the process of becoming an entrepreneur in the cooperation and poverty contexts takes place.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a phenomenological approach for data collection purposes. Autoscopy, which is a methodological device of reflective nature, was herein applied to a group of interlocutors comprising seven representatives of waste pickers’ cooperatives (RC). Data analysis focused on defining the meaning of participants’ speech was conducted in compliance with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis guidelines.
Findings
The current findings have shown that becoming a representative of cooperatives involves mobilization toward empowerment and a sense of collectively doing on behalf of community interests. Moreover, these RCs become entrepreneurs in the poverty context, as they perceive opportunities, are persistent and take risks pursuing alternatives for both the survival and improvement of theirs own living conditions, and of others.
Research limitations/implications
Adopting a reflective approach associated with an ontology of becoming could have led to deeper results if the current research was a longitudinal study, rather than a cross-sectional one.
Practical implications
Training programs provided for waste pickers should take into consideration that their learning process is mainly based on practice.
Social implications
Behaviors disclosed by participants toward fostering collective and entrepreneurial actions in the poverty context may be an inspiration for future changes.
Originality/value
The methodological option for adopting a reflective approach resulted in a contribution device that is barely applied to research in the management field; thus, the current investigation can introduce a new pathway for further research.
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This chapter will discuss understandings of forms of sustainable political economy within the context of sustainability in the community. Essentially, it will examine the issues…
Abstract
This chapter will discuss understandings of forms of sustainable political economy within the context of sustainability in the community. Essentially, it will examine the issues which emerge when a community favours a green economic model within the context of the now largely discredited neo-liberal framework that never valued notions of sustainability, and is now largely in crisis due to the market decline and ‘credit crunch’. In addition, the section will outline the significance of community-based political economy for the development of sustainable forms of justice. A sustainable form of political economy incorporates particular concerns, such as ‘the geographical scope of production for local needs, and the exposing and combating the institutions and power structures that lead to poverty and lack of local control’ (Kennet & Heinemann, 2006, p. 78). Under the neo-liberal system, a dichotomy existed between community development and the dominant, yet ultimately unsustainable, growth-based form of political economy.
Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some…
Abstract
Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.
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This exploratory study, a Ph.D. dissertation completed at the University of Western Ontario in 2013, examines the materially embedded relations of power between library users and…
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This exploratory study, a Ph.D. dissertation completed at the University of Western Ontario in 2013, examines the materially embedded relations of power between library users and staff in public libraries and how building design regulates spatial behavior according to organizational objectives. It considers three public library buildings as organization spaces (Dale & Burrell, 2008) and determines the extent to which their spatial organizations reproduce the relations of power between the library and its public that originated with the modern public library building type ca. 1900. Adopting a multicase study design, I conducted site visits to three, purposefully selected public library buildings of similar size but various ages. Site visits included: blueprint analysis; organizational document analysis; in-depth, semi-structured interviews with library users and library staff; cognitive mapping exercises; observations; and photography.
Despite newer approaches to designing public library buildings, the use of newer information technologies, and the emergence of newer paradigms of library service delivery (e.g., the user-centered model), findings strongly suggest that the library as an organization still relies on many of the same socio-spatial models of control as it did one century ago when public library design first became standardized. The three public libraries examined show spatial organizations that were designed primarily with the librarian, library materials, and library operations in mind far more than the library user or the user’s many needs. This not only calls into question the public library’s progressiveness over the last century but also hints at its ability to survive in the new century.
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This chapter explores an aspect of voluntary childlessness that has been neglected in previous research; how voluntarily childless (i.e. childfree) women engage in partnership…
Abstract
This chapter explores an aspect of voluntary childlessness that has been neglected in previous research; how voluntarily childless (i.e. childfree) women engage in partnership formation processes and how they perceive that these processes become influenced by their voluntarily childless status. Drawing on interviews with 21 voluntarily childless, heterosexual, Swedish women, this chapter highlights how their childfree decision(s) impacted their partnering behaviour, their chances to form an intimate relationship and their preferences concerning partners and partnerships. The results show some of the challenges these women faced as they engaged in partnership formation processes concerning; for example, constraints in partner availability and potentially conflicting preferences regards autonomy, reproduction and intimacy. In addition, partnership formation was complicated due to a lack of communication, misunderstandings and disbelief in their childfree choices. The analysis illustrates that it was of utmost importance to these women that their intimacy goals were respected and protected during these processes but that some of them were also willing to negotiate their partner ideal. Nevertheless, this chapter ends with a discussion of relationship dissolution due to ambivalence concerning childfree choices and intimacy goals both on behalf of the childfree woman and her partner.
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B. Sebastian Reiche, Joyce S. Osland, Mark E. Mendenhall and Betina Szkudlarek
In this concluding chapter, the editors reflect on the value-added contributions of the papers in this volume toward a better understanding of global leadership effectiveness…
Abstract
In this concluding chapter, the editors reflect on the value-added contributions of the papers in this volume toward a better understanding of global leadership effectiveness. After highlighting some of those contributions, the editors then discuss relevant directions for future research in global leadership effectiveness and organize their discussion around (1) antecedents, (2) conditions, and (3) dimensions of global leadership effectiveness. They conclude by listing some of the paramount research questions they believe should be addressed for the field to move forward in mapping the dimensions and dynamics of global leadership effectiveness.
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