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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1991

Spencer J. Maxcy and Stephen J. Caldas

An increasingly popular argument proposes that the problems inpublic schooling may be solved through stronger, more morallyimaginative leadership. School administrators ought to…

Abstract

An increasingly popular argument proposes that the problems in public schooling may be solved through stronger, more morally imaginative leadership. School administrators ought to set forth a vision growing out of this moral responsibility, and may be trained to utilise moral imagination in directing teachers and students towards certain moral visions. A critique of the argument is presented and alternative (and conflicting) meanings of “moral imagination” surveyed. Four models of moral imagination are located: as discovery; as moral authority; as faculty of mind, and as super science. It is argued that each of these conceptions has inherent difficulties. The logical relationship of these views is explored. The notion of “school leadership” is traced in the literature as it has been attached to “moral imagination”. The work of W. Greenfield is examined and a philosophy of school administration, with certain assumptions, regarding values and authority, that reveal key difficulties for the unfettered use of “moral imagination” in school administration, is found. It is concluded that “moral imagination” ought to be replaced with “critical imagination”, coupled with “democratic value deliberation” and by so doing a richer leadership will result, leading to the empowerment of teachers and a fuller serving of the public good.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1995

Richard C. Warren

Shares reflections and experiences on teaching a business ethicscourse to students of business over the past three years in the hopethat wider debate about this aspect of…

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Abstract

Shares reflections and experiences on teaching a business ethics course to students of business over the past three years in the hope that wider debate about this aspect of management learning will establish its place in the business education curriculum. Considers the problems of teaching ethics in an occupation where there is no commonly accepted code of ethics. Discusses design, aims and objectives of a business ethics course and describes and reflects on aspects of the process and content of the course with a view to improving its practice in the future.

Details

Education + Training, vol. 37 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

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Article
Publication date: 29 April 2021

Shruti Srinivasan and Ravikumar Thangaraj

There has been an increase in the number of highly qualified management graduates specialized in finance from various esteemed universities in India, thus increasing the…

Abstract

Purpose

There has been an increase in the number of highly qualified management graduates specialized in finance from various esteemed universities in India, thus increasing the competition for finance job roles in the country. This, therefore, brings in the need for the employees or the prospective candidates to mold their soft skills so as to make them desirable by the companies and hence employable. The purpose of this paper is to provide a list of skills required by management graduates to become employable for finance job roles from the perspective of corporate executives. This list will enable prospective candidates to prepare themselves for a career in the field of finance.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was carried out through the collection of data from 117 finance professionals with a minimum work experience of 5 years with the help of structured questionnaires. This was then analyzed through factor analysis and the list of 15 factors was obtained.

Findings

A list of 15 essential factors was obtained through the analysis of the data. The essential skills included empathetic and judicious behavior, professional etiquette and employee well-being, ethical behavior, conflict management, change analysis and prediction; practicality and organizational presence of mind; social and moral presence of mind; self-confidence and effective written communication; effective interpersonal communication and employee value systems; responsibility and self-awareness; problem diagnosis and problem-solving; real-time work and activity experience; professional development and advancement; technology rationalization and effective information generation. The findings also included that a candidate should be able to effectively present crucial information and should possess practical advisory skills.

Originality/value

The study will be highly beneficial for management graduates who have specialized in finance to secure finance job roles in India. This paper will enable the students to prepare themselves in the essential soft skills required for these job roles apart from technical knowledge and hard skills.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 11 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 2003

Melvin J. Dubnick

While a relationship between accountability and ethics has long been assumed and debated in Public Administration, the nature of that relationship has not been examined or clearly…

Abstract

While a relationship between accountability and ethics has long been assumed and debated in Public Administration, the nature of that relationship has not been examined or clearly articulated. This article makes such an effort by positing four major forms of accountability (answerability, blameworthiness, liability and attributability) and focusing on the ethical strategies developed in response to each of these forms

Details

International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 6 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1093-4537

Article
Publication date: 5 October 2021

Sonia Goltz and Patty Sotirin

The authors suggest that the research-to-practice gap, such as that found in evidence-based management, is due in part to a lack of attention to embodied knowledge. The…

Abstract

Purpose

The authors suggest that the research-to-practice gap, such as that found in evidence-based management, is due in part to a lack of attention to embodied knowledge. The recommendation is for change agents to bring attention to embodied knowing when implementing change based on research. The purpose of the paper is to address the research-to-practice gap.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper that considers limitations of the predominant approach to considering the research-to-practice gap. The literature on phenomenology, feminist theory, and learning theory form the basis for exploring these challenges as well as possible solutions for transcending the research-to-practice gap.

Findings

Strategic opportunities for introducing increased corporeal understanding are advanced. The suggestions address the research-to-practice gap at three critical stages of research-based change initiatives. These include making embodied knowledge integral to change initiatives in framing research, reducing resistance, and increasing acceptance. Among the specific strategies discussed are attending to tacit knowledge when considering the change, embracing the embrained body including attending to kinesthetic resistance and starting with the body to increase acceptance when implementing change.

Originality/value

There has been very little previous attention to the corporeal in management research and practice, including in the organizational change literature. This paper not only increases this discussion significantly but also provides suggestions for how to move forward in practice.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 35 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

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Article
Publication date: 4 January 2019

Karin A. Spenser, Ray Bull, Lucy Betts and Belinda Winder

Prosociality is considered important in the study of offenders and associated cognitive skills: theory of mind, empathic understanding and moral reasoning, are said to enable…

Abstract

Purpose

Prosociality is considered important in the study of offenders and associated cognitive skills: theory of mind, empathic understanding and moral reasoning, are said to enable self-control and reduce the risk of offending behaviours. Previous research has made associations between these skills and executive functioning; however, research into a link between them, in an offending population, is limited. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

To further understand the practicalities of this, the present study considered the predictive abilities of the constructs believed to underpin executive functioning: working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control, in relation to theory of mind, empathic understanding and moral reasoning. In total, 200 male and female offenders completed measures in all six constructs.

Findings

Using path analysis working memory was demonstrated to be predictive of theory of mind and empathic understanding, cognitive flexibility was found to be predictive of theory of mind, and inhibitory control was found to be predictive of theory of mind, empathic understanding and moral reasoning.

Research limitations/implications

The study focussed on offenders serving a custodial sentence of six months or less and did not differentiate between crime categories or take into consideration the socio-environmental backgrounds or ethnicity. Therefore, considering these things could further establish the generalisability of the current findings. It is noted that the more focussed the intervention is to the specific needs of an offender, the greater the impact will be. Therefore, pre-screening tests for the constructs discussed may be able to more accurately assess an offenders’ suitability for a programme, or indeed tailor it to meet the specific needs of that person.

Practical implications

These findings may enable practitioners to more accurately assess offenders’ suitability for interventions aimed at reducing offending behaviours by improving levels of prosociality and develop more focussed programmes to meet the specific needs of individual offenders to reduce re-offending.

Social implications

As recommended in the study, a more tailored approach to offender rehabilitation may be a potential aid to reducing levels of recidivism.

Originality/value

The present study adds to the literature as it is the first to consider whether the constructs of executive functioning can predict levels of theory of mind, empathic understanding and moral reasoning and so provide a more accurate method in assessing the cognitive abilities of offenders prior to participation in rehabilitative interventions.

Details

Journal of Criminal Psychology, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2009-3829

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1992

John Conway O'Brien

A collection of essays by a social economist seeking to balanceeconomics as a science of means with the values deemed necessary toman′s finding the good life and society enduring…

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Abstract

A collection of essays by a social economist seeking to balance economics as a science of means with the values deemed necessary to man′s finding the good life and society enduring as a civilized instrumentality. Looks for authority to great men of the past and to today′s moral philosopher: man is an ethical animal. The 13 essays are: 1. Evolutionary Economics: The End of It All? which challenges the view that Darwinism destroyed belief in a universe of purpose and design; 2. Schmoller′s Political Economy: Its Psychic, Moral and Legal Foundations, which centres on the belief that time‐honoured ethical values prevail in an economy formed by ties of common sentiment, ideas, customs and laws; 3. Adam Smith by Gustav von Schmoller – Schmoller rejects Smith′s natural law and sees him as simply spreading the message of Calvinism; 4. Pierre‐Joseph Proudhon, Socialist – Karl Marx, Communist: A Comparison; 5. Marxism and the Instauration of Man, which raises the question for Marx: is the flowering of the new man in Communist society the ultimate end to the dialectical movement of history?; 6. Ethical Progress and Economic Growth in Western Civilization; 7. Ethical Principles in American Society: An Appraisal; 8. The Ugent Need for a Consensus on Moral Values, which focuses on the real dangers inherent in there being no consensus on moral values; 9. Human Resources and the Good Society – man is not to be treated as an economic resource; man′s moral and material wellbeing is the goal; 10. The Social Economist on the Modern Dilemma: Ethical Dwarfs and Nuclear Giants, which argues that it is imperative to distinguish good from evil and to act accordingly: existentialism, situation ethics and evolutionary ethics savour of nihilism; 11. Ethical Principles: The Economist′s Quandary, which is the difficulty of balancing the claims of disinterested science and of the urge to better the human condition; 12. The Role of Government in the Advancement of Cultural Values, which discusses censorship and the funding of art against the background of the US Helms Amendment; 13. Man at the Crossroads draws earlier themes together; the author makes the case for rejecting determinism and the “operant conditioning” of the Skinner school in favour of the moral progress of autonomous man through adherence to traditional ethical values.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 19 no. 3/4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 February 2020

Rong Huang, Xinyue Zhou, Weiling Ye and Siyuan Guo

This paper aims to clarify an important nuance by proposing that people attribute human mind to brands on two distinct dimensions: think and feel.

2202

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to clarify an important nuance by proposing that people attribute human mind to brands on two distinct dimensions: think and feel.

Design/methodology/approach

Eight studies were conducted to first develop and validate the 14-item Brand Anthropomorphism Questionnaire, and then to investigate how the two subscales, think or feel dimensions, influence consumer moral judgment of brands.

Findings

This research developed a 14-item Brand Anthropomorphism Questionnaire with two subscales, which are psychometrically sound and show discriminant validity with regard to existing brand constructs. Furthermore, think or feel brand anthropomorphism dimensions can predict consumers’ moral judgment of brands.

Research limitations/implications

The present research offers preliminary evidence about the value of distinguishing between think brand and feel brand in consumer moral judgment. Further research could investigate other potential impact of the two dimensions, and possible antecedents of think/feel dimensions.

Practical implications

Managers can use the scale for assessment, planning, decision-making and tracking purposes. In addition, in the event of brand scandal or brand social responsibility activities, public-relations efforts can use the findings to earn or regain the trust of consumers, as this research demonstrates that marketers can shape (tailor) the feel or think dimensions of brand perception to change consumers’ moral judgment of the brands.

Originality/value

This research makes theoretical contribution to the brand anthropomorphism literature by differentiating the two dimensions and exploring the influence of anthropomorphism of consumer moral judgment.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 29 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 May 2012

Ann Kerwin

The purpose of this paper is to revisit philosopher Hannah Arendt's classic study of the banality of evil in light of posthumously published works bearing on moral psychology and…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to revisit philosopher Hannah Arendt's classic study of the banality of evil in light of posthumously published works bearing on moral psychology and philosophy.

Design/methodology/approach

Largely expository and interpretive, this conceptual paper articulates Arendt's approach to morally responsible thinking, with an emphasis on managerial decision making. Arendt's practical ethics draws, in part, on Kantian aesthetic theory, providing an original but unfinished account of “the life of the mind” and personal responsibility in community.

Findings

Arendt contends that humans can, and are morally obliged to, use conscience, imagination and reason to avoid evil‐doing; that self‐critical introspection, active imagination and representative judgment are essential for moral decision making, especially in times of moral crisis; and that neither profit nor pressure can justify breaching fundamental responsibilities to humanity.

Research limitations/implications

This paper discusses, but does not critique, Arendt's oeuvre. It interprets, connects and applies ideas from disparate works relating to responsible moral psychology.

Practical implications

Confronting a “modern crisis” in values, Arendt acknowledged pressures on leaders to fulfill organizational objectives, even those effecting harm which violate deeply‐held personal ethics. Warning against temptations to divide selves into a “personal” moral self and a compartmentalized “organisational self,” she prescribed ways of thinking and judging to counteract thoughtless evil‐doing.

Originality/value

The paper connects Arendt's privative analysis of evil‐doing in Eichmann in Jerusalem with later works which delineate shared human mental capacities and processes which facilitate morally responsible leadership, independent of culture or context.

Details

Journal of Management Development, vol. 31 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0262-1711

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2009

Benjamin W. Redekop

The purpose of this paper is to deepen our understanding of the philosophical and scientific pedigree of the concept of “common sense”, and explore the implications for managerial…

1381

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to deepen our understanding of the philosophical and scientific pedigree of the concept of “common sense”, and explore the implications for managerial decision‐makers.

Design/methodology/approach

After examining the management literature on this topic, a brief history of the notion and philosophy of common sense is followed by a review of recent findings in cognitive science and other fields and a discussion of implications for managerial decision‐making.

Findings

The notion of common sense has a stable perceptual basis in the makeup of the human mind, as has been shown by philosophers and scientists. Common sense intuitions serve as the basis for making sense of the world: visual perception, scientific reasoning, language, psychology, mathematics, and moral judgments are all rooted in “mental hardware” of common sense. While it is a necessary element of human cognition, common sense can nevertheless lead us astray if we are unaware of its contours and limitations, which are outlined in this paper.

Practical implications

Understanding that the mind comes equipped with a host of common sense mental instincts will have an impact on both one's own decision‐making processes, and how decision‐makers attempt to influence others.

Originality/value

Based on original research as well as literature from a variety of disciplines, this paper provides a comprehensive understanding of the philosophical and scientific pedigree of “common sense” and its implications for decision‐makers.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 47 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

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