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1 – 10 of over 61000
Article
Publication date: 5 September 2016

Ashlea Kellner, Keith Townsend, Adrian Wilkinson, David Greenfield and Sandra Lawrence

The purpose of this paper is to develop understanding of the “HRM process” as defined by Bowen and Ostroff (2004). The authors clarify the construct of “HRM philosophy” and…

2220

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop understanding of the “HRM process” as defined by Bowen and Ostroff (2004). The authors clarify the construct of “HRM philosophy” and suggest it is communicated to employees through “HRM messages”. Interrelationships between these concepts and other elements of the HRM-performance relationship are explored. The study identifies commonalities in the HRM philosophy and messages underscoring high-performing HRM systems, and highlights the function of a “messenger” in delivering messages to staff.

Design/methodology/approach

Case study of eight Australian hospitals with top performing HRM systems. Combines primary interview data with independent healthcare accreditor reports.

Findings

All cases share an HRM philosophy of achieving high-performance outcomes through the HRM system and employees are provided with messages about continuous improvement, best practice and innovation. The philosophy was instilled primarily by executive-level managers, whereby distinctiveness, consensus and consistency of communications were important characteristics.

Research limitations/implications

The research is limited by: omission of low or average performers; a single industry and country design; and exclusion of employee perspectives.

Practical implications

The findings reinforce the importance of identifying the HRM philosophy and its key communicators within the organisation, and ensuring it is aligned with strategy, climate and the HRM system, particularly during periods of organisational change.

Originality/value

The authors expand Bowen and Ostroff’s seminal work and develop the concepts of HRM philosophy and messages, offering the model to clarify key relationships. The findings underscore problems associated with a best practice approach that disregards HRM process elements essential for optimising performance.

Article
Publication date: 15 March 2011

Wu Xuemou

The purpose of this paper is to state new formulation of the programme‐styled framework of pansystems research and related expansions.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to state new formulation of the programme‐styled framework of pansystems research and related expansions.

Design/methodology/approach

Pansystems‐generalized extremum principle (0**: (dy/dx=0)**) is presented with recognitions to various logoi of philosophy, mathematics, technology, systems, cybernetics, informatics, relativity, biology, society, resource, communications and related topics: logic, history, humanities, aesthetics, journalism, IT, AI, TGBZ* <truth*goodness*beauty*Zen*>, etc. including recent rediscoveries of 50 or so pansystems logoi.

Findings

A keynote of the paper is to develop the deep logoi of the analytic mathematics, analytic mechanics, variational principles, Hilbert's sixth/23rd problems, pan‐axiomatization to encyclopedic principles and various applications. The 0**‐universal connections embody the transfield internet‐styled academic tendency of pansystems exploration.

Originality/value

The paper includes topics: history megawave, pansystems sublation‐modes, pan‐metaphysics, pansystems dialogs with logoi of 100 thinkers or so, and pansystems‐sublation for a series of logoi concerning the substructure of encyclopedic dialogs such as systems, derivative, extremum, quantification, variational principle, equation, symmetry, OR, optimization, approximation, yinyang, combination, normality‐abnormality, framework, modeling, simulation, relativity, recognition, practice, methodology, mathematics, operations and transformations, quotientization, product, clustering, Banach completeness theorem, Weierstrass approximation theorem, Jackson approximation theorem, Taylor theorem, approximation transformation theorems due to Walsh‐Sewell mathematical school, Hilbert problems, Cauchy theorem, theorems of equation stability, function theory, logic, paradox, axiomatization, cybernetics, dialectics, multistep decision, computer, synergy, vitality and the basic logoi for history, ethics, economics, society OR, aesthetics, journalism, institution, resource and traffics, AI, IT, etc.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 40 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2000

Wu Xuemou, Pan Jinghong and Heng Pheng‐Ann

The framework, panorama, related applications and development of pansystems thinking are introduced and some problems concerning generalized systems, derivatives, symmetry and…

Abstract

The framework, panorama, related applications and development of pansystems thinking are introduced and some problems concerning generalized systems, derivatives, symmetry and quantification are investigated, a sort of difference‐identity theory within the framework of pansystems thinking is cultivated, and a new type of clustering method with many intertransformations among some important pansystems concepts is presented. Related contents include: pansystems combination of mathematics, systems, dialectics and poetry thinking, methodology to comprehend laws by pansymmetries or by moving networks, the pansystems views of generalized order, quotientization and series‐parallel relations, control‐reachability, duality transformation, discoupling principle, communication theorems, general parental relations, etc.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 29 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2006

Xuemou Wu

The purpose of this paper is to present an academic programme of pansystems research with a lot of new concepts, principles, methods. Universal consideration of philosophy

1233

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an academic programme of pansystems research with a lot of new concepts, principles, methods. Universal consideration of philosophy‐mathematics‐technology is set forth with mega‐combination. The emphasis on the transfield internet‐like investigations is developed. Many theory‐methods of pansystems get further concise optimization.

Design/methodology/approach

The concrete contents of the paper include: historical megawave, philosophical stratagems, meta‐mathematics, meta‐methodology, technological realistic principles, unification and differentiation of encyclopedic branches, systems science, information theory, cybernetics, biosystems, generalized vitality, computer and IT, thinking science, logic, OR, AI, PR, DM, modernization of yinyang analysis combining dialectics, sociology, economics, meta‐relativity, generalized quantification and scale theory, general process of birth‐growth‐ageing‐disease‐death, the inheritance and development of 300 scholars' researches, etc.

Findings

All of the topics concerned with are reduced to the actualizations of PVOR – pansystems variational OR: Vd(xy)=*0*/PRR′P′/0**, which is an integrated synthesis of 20‐PanStemCells of PanConcepts and PanMethod, and embodies a specific pansystems summarization for the core of the true and the good. Furthermore, the formula “Pansystems Researches=*(PVOR/0**/Pan54787721/Everything)+*0*=*Pan–netlike connections of thoughts and methods” is expanded with concrete applications.

Originality/value

Provides information on pansystems research.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 35 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2000

Anghel N. Rugina

Attempts to prove, in this second chapter of the author’s monograph, that with a new research programme, it is possible to build a methodological bridge between economics and all…

4020

Abstract

Attempts to prove, in this second chapter of the author’s monograph, that with a new research programme, it is possible to build a methodological bridge between economics and all other natural sciences and the scientists should address this challenge. Reviews basic principles that govern nature, including Einstein’s findings along with such luminaries as Copernicus, Newton, Galileo and Jeans. Concludes that the future is safe, as a new generation of scientists is now emerging in the East and the West, and that the new methodology should provide enough space for new roads, ideas and interpretations, which may occur in the future. Closes by saying a new spirit should be initiated in economics and transplanted into natural sciences.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 27 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1989

Anghel N. Rugina

There is a double crisis in modern science and in particular inphysics and mechanics. Among others Einstein and Stephane Lupasco, inthe 1930s, warned about this crisis. The…

1985

Abstract

There is a double crisis in modern science and in particular in physics and mechanics. Among others Einstein and Stephane Lupasco, in the 1930s, warned about this crisis. The Quantum Theory cannot be reconciled with the Relativity Theory. Specifically there is a gap (cleavage) between micro – and macro‐physics and mechanics. Parallel or beneath there is also a second crisis derived from a discontinuity (again a cleavage) between classical and modern science, that is between two previous revolutions. A new research programme of a simultaneous equilibrium versus disequilibrium approach, initially applied in economics has now been extended to include natural sciences. It is the question of a new, more comprehensive methodology which is actually a sui generis synthesis between classical and modern heritage. The rigorous application of the new research programme leads to the organisation of an Orientation Table, that is, a methodological map of all possible combinations (systems). The Table shows, without any exaggeration, a few revolutionary results. For instance, with the help of the Table, modern science or the second revolution (Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg) does not appear contradictory but rather complementary to classical science or the first revolution (Newton, Lavoisier). The Kuhnian thesis to the contrary is disproved and the second crisis is solved. With the help of the Universal Hypothesis of Duality (the basis of the Orientation Table), matter and energy, at the micro – and macro‐level, appear in a double form (the Principle of Duality): stable (equilibrium) particles and unstable (disequilibrium) waves. The strong interactions from modern physics are associated with the law of gravitation (attraction) or stable equilibrium which governs stable matter and energy. The weak interactions are associated with the law of disgravitation (dispersion or repulsion) including entropy or unstable equilibrium which governs unstable matter and energy. In this way the first crisis is also solved.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 August 2010

Chang‐Hun Lee, Jung‐Mi Kim and Jong‐Gil Kim

The aim of the current study is three‐fold: it aims to empirically investigates the relationship between officers' perceptions on organizational structure and preventive policing…

1035

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the current study is three‐fold: it aims to empirically investigates the relationship between officers' perceptions on organizational structure and preventive policing practices (PPP) in the South Korean context; it attempts to find what aspects of organizational characteristics will be influential in police officers' day‐to‐day activities;, utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM), it aims to identitify the complex networks of influences among various organizational aspects.

Design/methodology/approach

The current study utilizes data collected from two different samples: a total of 146 randomly selected police officers in a metropolitan police agency, and 60 police officers who were attending a community policing training course. Overall response rate was 73.6 percent. The organizational characteristics investigated include strategic direction, decentralization of authority, system flexibility, reward system, and open‐system feedback mechanism.

Findings

The results of SEM indicate that officers' perceptions on organizational structure (except open‐system feedback mechanism) of Korean police agency do not influence an individual police officer's preventive policing activity. The study found a significant relationship between officers' perceptions on open‐system structure and preventive policing practice. Finally, the study also identified a complex network of organizational traits on preventive policing: strategic direction influences all other organizational factors; system flexibility is a prerequisite for the open system; and decentralization of authority influences the open system structure.

Research limitations/implications

Although this study uniquely utilized organizational factors measured at the individual level, one may criticize the lack of a more direct organizational measure, such as organizational size, age, task scope, or number of ranks. Future study on this topic will benefit from employing both direct and indirect organizational measures.

Originality/value

The current study enhances the understanding of individual perception of organizational characteristics on police officers' day‐to‐day preventive policing activities.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 33 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 October 2016

Xiaogang Wang

In daily life, some special systems are difficult to handle, such as indistinct systems (the reverse of explicit systems), history systems, future systems, infinite systems, etc…

Abstract

Purpose

In daily life, some special systems are difficult to handle, such as indistinct systems (the reverse of explicit systems), history systems, future systems, infinite systems, etc. It is one of the more important topics of broad-spectrum philosophy to give these systems observo-controllable and -manipulatable forms from the angle of epistemology and methodology. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The author conducted a broad-spectrum analysis of some typical mechanisms of general object systems and general cognition systems through a generalized quantification method and a dynamic structure method.

Findings

Through generalized quantification and dynamic structure methods, the author can draw some new conclusions about these special systems: for example, the indistinct system has certain relations and structures, but these relations and structures cannot be observo-controlled directly under certain conditions; further, the indistinct system and explicit system are interdependent, and therefore people can transform an indistinct system into an explicit one.

Originality/value

Through the study of special systems, the author may find a new perspective and research topic for broad-spectrum philosophy, which may provide a new concept and study frame for future analysis of these special systems.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 45 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 June 2013

David Pouvreau

The paper aims to present the main perspectives and conclusions of a doctoral research in the history and philosophy of science conducted in France and Austria by the author on…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to present the main perspectives and conclusions of a doctoral research in the history and philosophy of science conducted in France and Austria by the author on the project of “general systemology” (or “general system theory”) instigated by Ludwig von Bertalanffy.

Design/methodology/approach

A genealogical enquiry accounts for its scientific, philosophical and more generally cultural origins. Its genesis in Bertalanffy's works between 1926 and 1944 is explained. The process that led it to become a collective project is then discussed: the history of the Society for General Systems Research is considered, the ambivalence of its role with regard to general systemology being demonstrated. Finally, the unity of the diverse contributions to the latter's development is asserted in a framework put forward by the author in order to account for its structure and functions.

Findings

While stating a comprehensive view of its history, the paper characterizes general systemology as the project of a general science of systemic interpretation of the “real” which remains topical, although it was never fully actualized.

Originality/value

A new insight is thus provided on the scope and meaning of this hermeneutics: it meets the contemporary need for a better understanding of the foundations of systems research.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 42 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2002

Sushil

Two important methodologies having some common grounds, but based on differing contexts and paradigms are Physical System Theory (PST) and System Dynamics (SD). The developments…

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Abstract

Two important methodologies having some common grounds, but based on differing contexts and paradigms are Physical System Theory (PST) and System Dynamics (SD). The developments in both the fields have taken place almost independently, and attempts have been made to integrate the two to complement their strengths and limitations. This paper provides an overview of PST in terms of its foundations, philosophy, fundamental postulates, recent developments on its simplification and enlargement, and applications to socio‐economic and managerial systems. A comparison of PST is made with SD on different fronts so as to understand their similarities and differences for carving out their place in modelling of managerial and socio‐economic systems and integrating the two more meaningfully and flexibly. The paper is concluded emphasizing the need for a ‘Flexible System Theory’ which can relate many such systems based approaches and techniques on the whole continuum from hard to soft systems thinking to cater the whole spectrum of problem situations effectively.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 31 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 61000