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Article
Publication date: 1 August 2000

Terry Robinson, Robert Foot and Colin M. Clarke‐Hill

The aim of the paper is to extend and update previous research carried out in the period immediately following the unification of Germany in 1990. This period saw a rapid and…

2288

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to extend and update previous research carried out in the period immediately following the unification of Germany in 1990. This period saw a rapid and substantial movement by (West) German retailers into the former German Democratic Republic. The paper examines, though a tracking study of the top German retailers, the status of those retailers some years on in terms of the extent to which they have assimilated their operations in eastern Germany and now regard them as merely a part of a united Germany. More importantly, the paper examines the extent to which the moves into the former East Germany have been used as a springboard to expansion in the former socialist states of central and eastern Europe in a period that has seen substantial and significant consolidation among German retailers.

Details

European Business Review, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

Keywords

Case study
Publication date: 1 March 2019

Jamie O’Brien

This case has two primary purposes. First, it allows students to examine how cognitive bias can affect decision making in stressful situations. Students explore why individuals…

Abstract

Theoretical basis

This case has two primary purposes. First, it allows students to examine how cognitive bias can affect decision making in stressful situations. Students explore why individuals make flawed choices. They learn about how managers shape the context and the process through which teams make decisions. For instance, automation can create a climate in which people then struggle to cope with the unexpected when it happens. Students examine why individuals make these systematic errors in judgment. The case demonstrates that leaders need to be aware of the traps that individuals and teams encounter when they make decisions in crisis situations, and it enables students to discuss the strategies that leaders can employ to avoid these traps. Second, the case provides an opportunity to examine a catastrophic failure in detail. Students discover that it can be nearly impossible to identify a single factor that caused the failure. Instead, they learn how to apply multiple theoretical perspectives to examine a serious organizational breakdown. They become familiar with important concepts from behavioral decision theory, such as complex systems theory and how it interacts with cognitive bias.

Research methodology

The technical report released by the French Aviation Authority along with the primary flight cockpit voice recorder data were used as the basis for this case. Other available public data such as news reports were used to round out the case study.

Case overview/synopsis

On June 9, 2009, on a routine flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, Air France 447 (AF 447), carrying 220 people crashed in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. Drawing from various first-hand accounts (cockpit voice recorder) and secondary evidence of the tragedy, the case provides a detailed account of the key events that took place leading up to the accident. The case describes how the pilots on AF447 were confronted with a scenario they had not faced before, and through the confusion made a series of errors. Through many of the quotes in the text, readers gain an understanding of the impressions and perceptions of the pilots, including how they felt about many of the critical decisions and incidents during the last minutes of the flight. The case concludes by highlighting the main findings of the BEA report.

Complexity academic level

This case study is appropriate for undergraduate students studying organizational behavior. It is also appropriate for MBA-level leadership and behavior classes.

Book part
Publication date: 23 December 2010

Barış Büyükokutan

Much writing on dissenting intellectuals posits a uniform relationship between autonomy from the popular element and social influence. The case of U.S. poets from 1930 to 1975…

Abstract

Much writing on dissenting intellectuals posits a uniform relationship between autonomy from the popular element and social influence. The case of U.S. poets from 1930 to 1975 challenges this, as dissenting poets' sphere of influence grew during the hegemony of populist as well as antipopulist movements. In order to account for this, this chapter draws on the conceptualization of autonomy as a process whose parameters are mutually irreducible and potentially contradictory. Where these parameters are more or less fully synchronized, dissenting intellectuals face a united bloc of opponents that they cannot divide; therefore, they need to fight all of these opponents simultaneously. Where there is little such synchronization, in contrast, they can negotiate temporary alliances with some of their foes, use these alliances to secure gains in more important fronts, and revise their alliances as circumstances change. Twentieth-century United States, this chapter argues, was an example of the latter kind of setting. Dissenting poets were able to use universities and popular element against one another, depending on how they saw their overall situation. When autonomy from universities mattered most, they reclaimed the popular element; when autonomy from the popular element mattered most, they set aside their differences with university administrators and joined the academic ranks. This distinction between greater and less synchronization of the powers, the chapter argues, has implications for political sociology beyond the study of intellectuals.

Details

Political Power and Social Theory
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-326-3

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1984

Douglas J. Ernest

Within the past 20 years hiking and backpacking have enjoyed rapid growth among Americans as favorite outdoor activities. From 1965 to 1977 the number of hikers almost tripled…

Abstract

Within the past 20 years hiking and backpacking have enjoyed rapid growth among Americans as favorite outdoor activities. From 1965 to 1977 the number of hikers almost tripled, from 9.9 million to 28.1 million, while national forest visitor days among hikers and mountaineers increased from 4 million in 1966 to 11 million in 1979. Accompanying this growth in interest has been a boom in books about the sport. These include both “how‐to‐do‐it” volumes and guides to specific geographical areas. Each year brings another spate of books, yet to this compiler's knowledge no bibliography of hiking guides to the Rocky Mountains, one of North America's premier outdoor regions, has yet been attempted. This bibliography is an effort to correct that situation.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 12 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Article
Publication date: 1 December 1975

ROBERT SHALLOW

I AM DEEPLY grateful to the editor for his indulgence in permitting me to make a statement at this particular time. The events of the recent past have been a nightmare for me, yet…

Abstract

I AM DEEPLY grateful to the editor for his indulgence in permitting me to make a statement at this particular time. The events of the recent past have been a nightmare for me, yet it is not for my own sake that I address you now. Nor is it to excuse my behaviour which has been described as bizarre. I shall, of course, explain it in detail later, but it certainly needs no excuse.

Details

New Library World, vol. 76 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

Book part
Publication date: 1 January 2008

Lisa Hewerdine and Catherine Welch

Cochlear's first product, the 22-channel Nucleus implant, was the result of a research programme that has been dated back to 1967, when Graeme Clark, an ear, nose and throat (ENT…

Abstract

Cochlear's first product, the 22-channel Nucleus implant, was the result of a research programme that has been dated back to 1967, when Graeme Clark, an ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon, commenced doctoral work on the electrical stimulation of the hearing nerve. Following the completion of his PhD in 1969, Clark was appointed the inaugural Chair in Otolaryngology at the University of Melbourne. When he joined the university in 1970, his primary objective was the practical application of his PhD research: namely, the development of a ‘bionic ear’, an electronic device that would stimulate the hearing nerve in the profoundly deaf. He realised early on that lack of resources would be one of his major impediments:across the road [from my office] the experimental research laboratory was in a disused hospital mortuary. When I looked at the mortuary my heart sank. It was dilapidated and bare. There was a stone table in the centre, but little else. The walls needed painting, and the light diffused poorly through the high windows. Anyway, I had no money to buy equipment even if the laboratory itself were satisfactory. (Clark, 2000, p. 54)

Details

New Perspectives in International Business Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-279-1

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2004

Bob Duckett

51

Abstract

Details

Reference Reviews, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0950-4125

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 23 October 2008

Jeffrey E. Nash

Through a critical viewing of All in the Family and Curb Your Enthusiasm, significant shifts in popular conceptions of racialized others can be identified. All in the Family…

Abstract

Through a critical viewing of All in the Family and Curb Your Enthusiasm, significant shifts in popular conceptions of racialized others can be identified. All in the Family, represented by the character Archie Bunker, and Curb Your Enthusiasm, represented by Larry David, are deconstructed and contrasted to represent distinct eras in the portrayal of race relationships. All in the Family takes a sanctimonious and judgmental stance toward prejudice that embodies a simplistic conception of race humanized through the defects of Archie Bunker. Curb Your Enthusiasm, in contrast, offers a complex conception of racialized relationships, humanized by the character of Larry David. Comparisons of the two portrayals suggest that (1) conceptions of race have shifted from fixed, definitional and “individualized” contents toward situational, fluid, and ironic ones, (2) this shift parallels transformations in society, and (3) sarcastic and framed narratives of the consequences of interracial relationships and race prejudice have displaced optimistic and challenging portrayals. For their respective eras, each program reflects conceptions of race in popular consciousness.

Details

Studies in Symbolic Interaction
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-127-5

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1973

J. Forbes

October 31, and November 1, 1972 Master and Servant — Negligence — Furnace waste on loading platform — Proper broom for removing furnace waste not provided — Plaintiff injured by…

Abstract

October 31, and November 1, 1972 Master and Servant — Negligence — Furnace waste on loading platform — Proper broom for removing furnace waste not provided — Plaintiff injured by slipping on loading platform in the course of loading operation — Whether defendant employers liable in negligence and for breach of statutory duty — Regulation 6 of the Construction (Working Places) Regulations, 1966 (S.I. 1966 No. 94).

Details

Managerial Law, vol. 13 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0558

Book part
Publication date: 18 December 2007

Will Rifkin

Images and forms of interaction that disrupt traditional relationships of power represent ways of going “beyond words” in organizing and exchanging information as well as in…

Abstract

Images and forms of interaction that disrupt traditional relationships of power represent ways of going “beyond words” in organizing and exchanging information as well as in designing ways to organize and inform in the future. In these processes, a departure from dominant and restrictive forms of expert writing and speaking can enhance the participation status of traditionally marginalized individuals and groups, a move aligned with the precepts of Appreciative Inquiry. This chapter addresses underlying theory of themes related to expert status, reveals examples, and identifies current theory and practice that is consistent with the notion of going “beyond words.”

Details

Designing Information and Organizations with a Positive Lens
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-398-3

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