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Article
Publication date: 27 April 2012

Ambika Zutshi, Andrew Creed, Amrik S. Sohal and Greg Wood

The paper aims to discuss the need to balance selflessness and self‐interest issues in outsourcing decisions. This discussion is timely given the tensions that currently exist…

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Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to discuss the need to balance selflessness and self‐interest issues in outsourcing decisions. This discussion is timely given the tensions that currently exist between those who want off‐shore outsourcing to continue as a means for increasing international trade, and those who only want to conduct business on‐shore.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual approach has been taken in this paper in order to highlight key considerations for ethical decision‐making with respect to off‐shore outsourcing.

Findings

Considerations of selflessness and self‐interest are embedded in outsourcing decisions. It is recommended that a balance between making profits and fulfilling social responsibilities is required, ideally, at each stage of decision‐making. Hence, managers should think critically about the reasons behind off‐shore outsourcing decisions, the process of arriving at decisions, and the impact of their decisions on stakeholders.

Research limitations/implications

This is a conceptual paper and further empirical data to validate the stages of decision‐making framework are required.

Practical implications

Failure to take into account the selflessness and self‐interest outcomes of off‐shore outsourcing could potentially off‐set strategic gains by leading to negative media publicity for a company.

Social implications

Ethical considerations as part of outsourcing decisions should result in a transparent, fair and more humane working environment for both the host and the home country representatives involved in the process.

Originality/value

This paper presents an original framework of selflessness and self‐interest considerations when making off‐shore outsourcing decisions. Both Eastern and Western business perspectives have been incorporated as part of the decision‐making framework.

Details

European Business Review, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 November 2014

Stephen Brookes

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the notion of the “Selfless Leader” and to pose the question as to whether this is an impossible ideal. It locates the importance of…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the notion of the “Selfless Leader” and to pose the question as to whether this is an impossible ideal. It locates the importance of values within the context of public leadership and puts forward a new perspective on principle-based leadership that incorporates selflessness as its foundation.

Design/methodology/approach

It primarily involves a literature review in relation to the importance of virtues and values based on an historical review, and the wider language of leadership. It draws briefly upon primary research based on realistic evaluation (Pawson and Tilley, 1997) across a range of public service organisations in various differing contexts but is, primarily, a conceptual paper aimed at encouraging further debate and research.

Findings

Given the fact that we are innately selfish, the requirement to lead in the public interest provides a real challenge for all leaders particularly as leaders are encouraged more towards achievement of competitive advantage, rather than collaborative advantage. The paper will suggest that values-based leadership is highly relevant to the challenges facing public leaders, and will present a principle-based framework for the practice and processes of public leadership.

Research limitations/implications

The paper seeks to generate a debate in relation to principle-based leadership that incorporates selflessness as its foundation, primarily through a literature review but supported by selected findings from a range of research projects in the area of public leadership.

Practical implications

The approach to realistic evaluation is helpful, not only as a research methodology, but also in relation to the development and assessment of leadership practice.

Social implications

This is considered to represent a unique approach to the study of leading in the public interest by focusing on the concept of selflessness.

Originality/value

This is considered to represent a unique approach to the study of leading in the public interest by focusing on the concept of selflessness.

Details

The International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, vol. 10 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9886

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 28 August 2018

Piero Formica and Martin Curley

In the knowledge economy, greater togetherness is the prerequisite for innovating and having more: selflessness extends scope while selfishness increases limitations. But human…

Abstract

In the knowledge economy, greater togetherness is the prerequisite for innovating and having more: selflessness extends scope while selfishness increases limitations. But human beings are not automatically attracted to innovation: between the two lies culture and cultural values vary widely, with the egoistic accent or the altruistic intonation setting the scene. In the representations of open innovation we submit to the reader’s attention, selfishness and selflessness are active in the cultural space.

Popularized in the early 2000s, open innovation is a systematic process by which ideas pass among organizations and travel along different exploitation vectors. With the arrival of multiple digital transformative technologies and the rapid evolution of the discipline of innovation, there was a need for a new approach to change, incorporating technological, societal and policy dimensions. Open Innovation 2.0 (OI2) – the result of advances in digital technologies and the cognitive sciences – marks a shift from incremental gains to disruptions that effect a great step forward in economic and social development. OI2 seeks the unexpected and provides support for the rapid scale-up of successes.

‘Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come’ – this thought, attributed to Victor Hugo, tells us how a great deal is at stake with open innovation. Amidon and other scholars have argued that the twenty-first century is not about ‘having more’ but about ‘being more’. The promise of digital technologies and artificial intelligence is that they enable us to extend and amplify human intellect and experience. In the so-called experience economy, users buy ‘experiences’ rather than ‘services’. OI2 is a paradigm about ‘being more’ and seeking innovations that bring us all collectively on a trajectory towards sustainable intelligent living.

Article
Publication date: 31 May 2013

Michael A. Odio, Matthew Walker and May Kim

The purpose of this paper is to examine specific stressors present in mega‐event work and the coping strategies used by long‐term mega‐event employees.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine specific stressors present in mega‐event work and the coping strategies used by long‐term mega‐event employees.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a general inductive approach to analyze the data and identify themes, semi‐structured interviews with six employees from organizing committees of subsequent National Football League (NFL) Super Bowls, and four employees from the Special Olympics in Greece helped to assess the presence of specific stressors and the corresponding coping strategies.

Findings

Patterns relating to the specific stressors (i.e. workload, time pressure, role stressors, job insecurity and work‐family conflict) and several themes emerged across all stressors including the selflessness of the participants in making personal sacrifices due to work demands. A sense of time and place emerged since the participants were cognizant of their role in a prestigious event. Time was also relevant as the end‐date approached which was simultaneously a source of stress and the date when their stress would be over. For most, the period after this end‐date was marked by a sense of sadness and a desire to repeat the experience. Finally, the career paths of the participants appeared to influence their actions and coping strategies.

Originality/value

Work in mega‐event organizing committees has not been examined from a stress and coping perspective; this study is the first to examine issues in this unique work setting by applying stress theory. Moreover, the findings suggest that organizing committee employees appraise and cope with stress differently than in more traditional contexts.

Details

International Journal of Event and Festival Management, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1758-2954

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 August 2009

Donald Gates and Peter Steane

The purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative approach to the decision‐ and policymaking that has been practiced in most developed countries for more than a quarter of a…

1602

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative approach to the decision‐ and policymaking that has been practiced in most developed countries for more than a quarter of a century. Such policies followed, to a greater or lesser degree, the policies adopted in the UK and the USA since the period of the Thatcher and Reagan administrations, respectively. These policies proclaimed the supremacy of the market and downplayed government intervention in the marketplace.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws upon earlier research by the authors as well as upon published works of other researchers.

Findings

Self‐interest governed the way policies are formed and through a process of extreme capitalism financial leaders took ever‐increasing risks for which executives received lucrative incentive salaries. The recent crash suggests a failure in such policies and this paper proposes an alternative way of operating – the way of altruism. Selfishness and egoism are argued as endemic in economic rationalism and extreme capitalism, replacing selflessness that engenders policies more aligned to altruism.

Research limitations/implications

The research is limited by the ability to examine all the research literature in the field at greater depth. However, the examination that has been possibly indicated that self‐interest and greed, endemic in extreme capitalism and economic rationalism, have made significant contributions to the recent subprime and global financial crises.

Practical implications

This paper provides government and corporate policymakers with an understanding of an alternative value – selflessness as aligned to altruism – than the values of selfishness and greed that are endemic in economic rationalism and extreme capitalism guiding policies that led to the global financial crisis.

Originality/value

The paper fulfils an identified need and supports policymakers seeking to achieve just outcomes for all stakeholders across the globe.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 36 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 July 2020

Diana Lorenzo-Afable, Marjolein Lips-Wiersma and Smita Singh

This paper aims to characterise the “social” in social entrepreneurship (SE) by examining social value creation (SVC) from the perspective of vulnerable beneficiaries within a…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to characterise the “social” in social entrepreneurship (SE) by examining social value creation (SVC) from the perspective of vulnerable beneficiaries within a developing country context. It uses the lens of care ethics to garner insights into SVC based on what beneficiaries care about in their work engagement with social enterprises.

Design/methodology/approach

The exploratory paper implements a multiple case study approach to theory building, which considers the rich, real-life developing country context wherein much SVC occurs. Data collection primarily uses in-depth interviews with beneficiaries in accordance with socially sensitive research methodologies involving vulnerable participants.

Findings

The findings offer an ethical view of SVC that is premised on what is of value to beneficiaries in SE. The authors find that SVC is a multi-dimensional and reciprocal process that is shaped as beneficiaries work for social enterprises. The reciprocal nature of the process engenders beneficiary altruism, which may heighten vulnerability and lead to the dark side of SE.

Social implications

Many of the problems SE tries to address are situated in developing countries. The findings may enable social entrepreneurs, policymakers and social enterprise organisations to develop more responsive and more impactful solutions to social problems in developing countries. They further suggest that beneficiaries must not be looked upon merely as passive recipients of value but as active participants in the SVC process.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to critical SE discourse by giving voice to beneficiaries in SE.

Article
Publication date: 16 February 2010

Lloyd Sandelands

Two claims are made about play that bears on managing change in organizations. First, play is a creative dynamic of human community; and in particular, it is the form taken by…

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Abstract

Purpose

Two claims are made about play that bears on managing change in organizations. First, play is a creative dynamic of human community; and in particular, it is the form taken by love at the boundary of fantasy and reality. Second, play is known, not by analysis via the mind and reason, but by intuition via the body and feeling. To manage change as play is to call upon the possibilities of adaptation and development that lie at the creative edge of love.

Design/methodology/approach

The arguments of the paper are not strictly rational (deductive) or empirical (inductive) but are based upon an “abductive” reading of the literatures on play and managing change.

Findings

Play is key in managing change. Play is the creative enlargement of love involved in healthy and effective adaptation and development.

Social implications

Change in organizations is best taken in the spirit of love that is play. As change calls to love, the greatest changes call to the greatest love of the divine in which all things are possible.

Originality/value

The paper offers a novel theoretical integration of the research literatures on play and managing change. The paper offers a powerful argument for the humane foundations of play and change in love.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 August 2007

Cameron P. Anderson

This chapter adopts a functional perspective of affect to organize, discuss, and synthesize the chapters of this volume. According to functional accounts of affect, emotions and…

Abstract

This chapter adopts a functional perspective of affect to organize, discuss, and synthesize the chapters of this volume. According to functional accounts of affect, emotions and moods help groups to solve their most important problems – problems such as maintaining cohesion, allocating roles and responsibilities among group members, facilitating clear intragroup communication, motivating selflessness, and coordinating collective action. The chapters of this volume are diverse in focus, yet they all extend our understanding of how and when affective phenomena help groups to solve these problems, and when they fail to do so. At the same time, they point to new and exciting directions for future research on the functions and dysfunctions of affect in groups.

Details

Affect and Groups
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1413-3

Abstract

Details

Strategic Marketing Management in Asia
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-745-8

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