bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
In Search of Clinical Neuroprotection After Brain Ischemia
Authors: Meloni Bruno P. , Campbell Kym , Zhu Hongdong , Knuckey Neville W.
Published: April 2009

Background and Purpose—

Brain injury after stroke and other cerebral ischemic events is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Our purpose here is to argue in favor of combined mild hypothermia (35°C) and magnesium as an acute neuroprotective treatment to minimize ischemic brain injury.

Methods and Results—

Drawing on our own experimental findings with mild hypothermia and magnesium, and in light of the moderate hypothermia trials in cardiac arrest/resuscitation and magnesium trials in ischemic stroke (IMAGES, FAST-Mag), we bring attention to the advantages of mild hypothermia compared with deeper levels of hypothermia, and highlight the existing evidence for its combination with magnesium to provide an effective, safe, economical, and widely applicable neuroprotective treatment after brain ischemia. With respect to effectiveness, our own laboratory has shown that combined mild hypothermia and magnesium treatment has synergistic neuroprotective effects and reduces brain injury when administered several hours after global and focal cerebral ischemia.

Conclusions—

Even when delayed, combined treatment with mild hypothermia and magnesium has broad therapeutic potential as a practical neuroprotective strategy. It warrants further experimental investigation and presents a good case for assessment in clinical trials in treating human patients after brain ischemia.
Outcomes of Intravenous Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen Activator Therapy According to Gender
Authors: Meseguer Elena , Mazighi Mikael , Labreuche Julien , Arnaiz Carlos , Cabrejo Lucie , Slaoui Tarik , Guidoux Celine , Olivot Jean-Marc , Abboud Halim , Lapergue Bertrand , Raphaeli Guy , Klein Isabelle F. , Lavallée Philippa C. , Amarenco Pierre
Published: April 2009

Background and Purpose—

The natural history of stroke is worse in women than in men. Controversial data have been published on the efficacy of thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) according to gender. We evaluated gender differences in the efficacy and safety outcomes of intravenous rtPA using a clinical registry and systematic review.

Methods—

Since January 2002, we collected baseline characteristics and efficacy and safety outcomes for patients who received intravenous rtPA in our center. We performed a systematic PubMed literature search for previous observational studies that examined gender effects on outcomes after intravenous rtPA treatment.

Results—

No gender difference in good outcome at 3 months (adjusted OR for women, 1.41; 95% CI, 0.76 to 2.60) and in 90-day mortality (adjusted OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 0.59 to 3.19) was found in our registry. We identified 16 studies that evaluated the gender effect among intravenous rtPA-treated patients. None of these studies supported a gender difference in favorable outcome, and one suggested an increased risk of mortality in men. In unadjusted partial meta-analysis in 4074 women and 5840 men including our registry data, we found a trend toward a lower risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage in women (crude OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.68 to 1.10).

Conclusions—

These results suggest no gender difference in outcome among patients treated with intravenous rtPA.
The Ego, The Body, And Pain
Authors: SZASZ THOMAS S.
Published: April 2009

‘We should willingly acknowledge our indebtedness to any philosophical or psychological theory that could tell us the meaning of these feelings of pleasure and ‘pain’ which affect us so powerfully. Unfortunately no theory of any value is forthcoming. It is the obscurest and least penetrable region of psychic life, and while it is impossible for us to avoid touching on it, the most elastic hypothesis will be, to my mind, the best. We have decided to consider pleasure and ‘pain’ in relation to the quantity of excitation present in psychic life-and not confined in any way-along such lines that ‘pain’ corresponds with an increase and pleasure with a decrease in this quantity.’ S. Freud (Beyond the Pleasure Principle)
The Scope of the Contribution of Psychoanalysis to the Biography of The Artist
Authors: Wangh Martin
Published: April 2009

Ernst Kris, more than any other analyst of this generation, had searched for the essence of creative genius, and his inspiring leadership was acknowledged by all participants in the Panel. It is therefore most painful that this final report for publication must be dedicated to the memory of his luminous guidence.
The Development of Paternal Identity: a Critical Review of the Literature on Nurturance and Generativity in Boys and Men
Authors: Ross John Munder
Published: April 2009

“In phantasy he was a mother and wanted children with whom he could repeat the endearments that he had experienced himself.”

( Freud, A Case of a Phobia in a Five Year Old, 1909
A Critique Of Reporting And Assessment In The Training Analysis
Authors: Lifschutz Joseph E.
Published: April 2009

“What is endangered by this 'judging capacity' [reporting to the education committee] of the training analyst is not only the notion of his impartiality and noncritical, observational function, but also the idea of complete and inviolable confidentiality of the material which is the prerequisite for free association. No analysand succeeds in divesting himself of all defenses and controls unless he can be certain that the derivatives of his id will not become known beyond the confines of the analytic situation.”—Anna Freud, 1950
A Study of the Psychoanalytic Theory of Anxiety, III: A Preliminary Formulation of the Anxiety Response
Authors: Compton Allan
Published: April 2009

An attempt is here made to apply the propositions of psychoanalytic ego psychology and certain ideas from systems theory to problems in the theory of anxiety. Conscious affect experience in adults is taken as a clinical starting point. The propositions advanced place concepts of processes by which events or fantasies are located in time at the center of anxiety theory and, perhaps, of affect theory generally.
The Preoedipal Development of the Boy
Authors: Galenson Eleanor , Roiphe Herman
Published: April 2009

We have presented an analysis of findings from a ten-year observational study of infants in their second year of life, with a focus on boys. Tracing the sexual development and its relation to development in the object relations and cognitive spheres, we found similarities between boys and girls and sharp differences as well. These latter become evident shortly after the discovery of the anatomical difference. We believe that the differences in reaction to this momentous event account for the greater trouble the girl has in the rapprochement crisis. Our direct observational studies of infants served to clarify many of the preoedipal dynamic currents which in turn affect the form of the oedipal constellation. We have established some sets of conditions which are likely to lead to a negative or positive form of oedipal attachment, and have described the typical and some of the atypical patterns of preoedipal development in both sexes.
The Theory of Gender Identity Disorders
Authors: MEYER JON K.
Published: April 2009

“Then you should say what you mean,” the March Hare went on. “I do,” Alice hastily replied: “at least-at least I mean what I say-that's the same thing, you know.”

-Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

(Chapt. 7)
Creating a Hybrid Organizational Form from Parental Blueprints: The Emergence and Evolution of Knowledge Firms
Authors: Oliver Amalya L. , Montgomery Kathleen
Published: April 2009

Using a case study of a new biotechnology firm, we examine the formation of a new organizational form as a hybrid emerging from two `parent' organizational forms. We focus on key internal labor processes that are selected from existing organizations and replicated in the hybrid form and argue that this inheritance process strengthens the likelihood of survival of the new form. We propose that analyzing the micro-level processes of inheritance contributes to the understanding of macro-level phenomena of organizational births and deaths, examined by population ecologists.
Ethnography and Sister Sciences: Why Refuse Assistance? A Reply to Weeks
Authors: Jones Todd Edwin
Published: April 2009

Social scientists (most recently John Weeks) tend to reply to arguments about epistemological difficulties for belief ascription with two responses. An epistemological response goes: Behavioral evidence for underlying beliefs `is all we have and all we need'. A metaphysical response argues that beliefs, being merely instrumental entities are not really subject to worries about underdetermination. In this article, I argue that these responses are inadequate, and that social science practice can be greatly improved by incorporating cognitive-science constraints into the practice of ascribing beliefs.
Life Role Salience: A Study of Dual-Career Couples in the Indian Context
Authors: Rajadhyaksha Ujvala , Bhatnagar Deepti
Published: April 2009

To explain career development of professional men and women, the developmental approach is becoming increasingly popular as it allows for a broad perspective encompassing both work and family roles. It recognizes the fact that developmentally men and women are different. The present study explored whether, for dual-career couples working in the Indian context, the salience attached to different life roles by male and female partners does indeed vary differentially across the life cycle in keeping with the propositions of the adult developmental theories of men and women. Data were collected from 92 dual-career couples. Results provided only partial support for the propositions of adult development theories, examined in terms of the differences between the life role salience of male and female partners. In particular, the expected reversal of salience attached to work and family roles at mid-life, between men and women, was not evident. Our results seem to challenge the universality of the existing developmental frameworks and suggest the need to broaden the theoretical base to incorporate diverse socio-cultural realities that have a bearing on life role salience.
Scientific Management, Culture and Control: A First-Hand Account of Taylorism in Practice
Authors: Jones Oswald
Published: April 2009

In this article I examine the changes that occurred in a large domestic appliance factory over a 12 year period. The appointment of a new managing director was the catalyst for many innovations in the plant including the ending of PBR (payment by results) and the use of stopwatches by work study engineers (WSEs). Despite senior managerial efforts to change the organizational culture those employed in the work study department continued to exert considerable influence over factory design and work organization. In the article I present a first-hand account of the way in which individual identity and subjectivity contributed to a distinctive subculture. This masculine culture encouraged conflict with shopfloor workers even after the PBR scheme had been discontinued. Hence, the article focuses on the way in which the subjective experiences of a small group of WSEs influenced the organization of shopfloor work as well as relationships between workers and manager
Honourable Members and Dishonourable Deeds: Sensemaking, Impression Management and Legitimation in the `Arms to Iraq Affair'
Authors: Brown Andrew D. , Jones Matthew
Published: April 2009

The general assumption of consonance between belief and action in individual and organizational behaviour has meant that relatively little attention is paid in the organizational literature to how individuals and organizations respond to allegations of belief/act discrepancy. In this article we identify three forms of response to such allegations, self-deception, hypocrisy and scapegoating, and suggest how they may be interrelated. It is proposed that these responses may be seen as important means whereby individuals make sense of events and present their actions to others. The argument is developed and deployed with reference to the British `Arms to Iraq Affair', which was the subject of detailed scrutiny through an extensive public inquiry. The principal research contribution of our article is to problematize the issue of belief/act discrepancy in a way which invites the juxtaposition of sensemaking and impression management concepts.
Managers' Business School Education and Military Service: Possible Links to Corporate Criminal Activity
Authors: Williams Robert J. , Barrett J. Douglas , Brabston Mary
Published: April 2009

This study examined the moderating influence of two top management team (TMT) characteristics, namely managers possessing an MBA education or prior military experience, on the relationships between firm size and corporate criminal activity, and firm strategy and corporate criminal activity. The study utilized data from 184 Fortune 500 companies. The results suggest that both graduate business education and prior military service among members of a firm's TMT strengthen the relationship between firm size and corporate criminal activity. Further, the results provide no support for the moderating influence of managers' graduate business education or prior military experience on the relationships between firm strategy and corporate criminal activity.
Ambiguity, Complexity and Dynamics in the Membership of Collaboration
Authors: Huxham Chris , Vangen Siv
Published: April 2009

This paper is concerned with the role that membership structures of inter-organizational collaborations have on the achievement of collaborative advantage in the context of tackling social issues. Based on action research involving participants in a wide variety of collaborative situations, the paper aims to explore the nature of the membership of collaborations in practice. A picture of membership is built up from two perspectives. The first considers the structure of collaboration, and argues that ambiguity and complexity in structure may be demonstrated over many dimensions. The second adds another layer of complication through exploring the dynamics of the way in which membership structures change over time. The paper concludes by examining the implications for practitioners and policy makers of this picture in terms of its effect on the design of collaborations and on the factors which tend to lead to colloborative inertia instead of collaborative advantage.
The Relationship between Job and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from a Remote Mining Community
Authors: Iverson Roderick D. , Maguire Catherine
Published: April 2009

Although the relationship between job and life satisfaction has attracted much attention, little research has been undertaken in geographically remote settings. The present study addresses this deficiency by testing a causal model that incorporates job-related, personal, environmental, and community-related variables. The LISREL results, based on a sample of 286 male employees from an open-cut coal mine in remote central Queensland, Australia, indicate that the community variables of family isolation and kinship support have the largest total (direct and indirect) effects on life satisfaction. Job satisfaction is found to be the next most important factor, and mediates the impact of routinization, industrial relations (IR) climate, promotional opportunity, work overload, family isolation, kinship support, positive affectivity, community participation, and negative affectivity on life satisfaction. In addition, job satisfaction is observed to have a stronger effect on life satisfaction than vice versa. The implications of these findings for organizations operating in remote regions are discussed.
A Dialogical Approach to Skill and Skilled Activity
Authors: Holman David
Published: April 2009

The focus of this paper is on the nature of the linguistically based skills that are generally thought to be significant at an intra-personal, interpersonal and organizational level of analysis (e.g. communication, teamwork, decision making, critical thinking). The aim is to develop a dialogical account of skill and skilled activity by drawing on ethnomethodology, activity theory and social constructionism. The paper starts by outlining mainstream cognitive and social psychological accounts of skill and skilled activity, and discussing the main problems associated with these accounts. Following this, the dialogical approach is described and put forward as an alternative to mainstream accounts. In the dialogical approach, there is a particular emphasis on the narrative and non-narrative aspects of skill and skilled activity. Implications for organizational practice and teaching practice are then drawn, and these are followed by concluding comments on possible future avenues of research.
Moral Awareness in Business Organizations: Influences of Issue-Related and Social Context Factors
Authors: Butterfield Kenneth D. , Trevin Linda Klebe , Weaver Gary R.
Published: April 2009

Individuals' awarenessof moral issues is an important first step in the ethicaldecision-making process. Relying on research in social cognition andbusiness ethics, we hypothesized that moral awareness is influenced byissue-related factors (magnitude of consequences of the moral issueand issue framing in moral terms) and social contextrelated factors(competitive context and perceived social consensus that the issue isethically problematic). The hypotheses were tested in a fieldexperiment involving 291competitive intelligence practitioners.Results generally supported the hypotheses. Qualitative analysisyielded additional insights into the content of respondents' moralawareness.
Emotions and Leadership: The Role of Emotional Intelligence
Authors: George Jennifer M.
Published: April 2009

This paper suggests that feelings (moods and emotions) play a central role in the leadership process. More specifically, it is proposed that emotional intelligence, the ability to understand and manage moods and emotions in the self and others, contributes to effective leadership in organizations. Four major aspects of emotional intelligence, the appraisal and expression of emotion, the use of emotion to enhance cognitive processes and decision making, knowledge about emotions, and management of emotions, are described. Then, I propose how emotional intelligence contributes to effective leadership by focusing on five essential elements of leader effectiveness: development of collective goals and objectives; instilling in others an appreciation of the importance of work activities; generating and maintaining enthusiasm, confidence, optimism, cooperation, and trust; encouraging flexibility in decision making and change; and establishing and maintaining a meaningful identity for an organization.
Varieties of Discourse: On the Study of Organizations through Discourse Analysis
Authors: Alvesson Mats , Karreman Dan
Published: April 2009

Discourse is a popular term used in a variety of ways, easily leading to confusion. This article attempts to clarify the various meanings of discourse in social studies, the term's relevance for organizational analysis and some key theoretical positions in discourse analysis. It also focuses on the methodological problem of the relationship between: a) the level of discourse produced in interviews and in everyday life observed as `social texts' (in particular talk); b) other kinds of phenomena, such as meanings, experiences, orientations, events, material objects and social practices; and, c) discourses in the sense of a large-scale, ordered, integrated way of reasoning/ constituting the social world. In particular, the relationship between `micro and meso-level' discourse analysis (i.e. specific social texts being the primary empirical material) and `grand and mega-level' discourse (i.e. large-scale orders) is investigated.
In the Name of the Client: The Service Ethic in Two Professional Services Firms
Authors: Anderson-Gough Fiona , Grey Christopher , Robson Keith
Published: April 2009

In this article we explore how notions of the client and client service are constructed within two `Big 5' professional services firms. Drawing upon a range of qualitative materials, we argue that the client is a central term in the socialization of trainee accountants within these firms and the emergence of their professional identities. We illustrate this with reference to recruitment, appraisal and daily work practices. We then move on to consider the power effects of a discourse that privileges the client in this way by attending to what is `written out' of such a discourse. We suggest that management control, friends, family and the profit motive are all written out. However, we also point to what such a discourse enables, both materially and symbolically, for the trainees in the study.
Narrative in Stractegic Change
Authors: Dunford Richard , Jones Deborah
Published: April 2009

Sensegiving constitutes a key process in the management of strategic change. Often this takes the form of narratives that provide a portrayal of events surrounding the change. This article reports the findings of research into the strategic change narratives that emerged in three organizations in which the senior management were seeking to respond to deregulation of the economy in which they were operating. The results illustrate both the existence of such narratives and the variation in form that they can take.
When Workers Flout Convention: A Study of Workplace Incivility
Authors: Pearson Christine M. , Andersson Lynne M. , Wegner Judith W.
Published: April 2009

Many organizations are concerned about the potential for workplace aggression and violence, yet pay little heed to lesser forms of interpersonal and organizational mistreatment. Drawing from knowledge and experiences of managers, attorneys, law enforcement officers and emergency medical professionals, we report a multi-method, multidisciplinary inductive study addressing two questions: (1) what is the nature of workplace incivility and how does incivility differ from and fit among other types of workplace mistreatment; and (2) what are some implications of incivility for employees and organizations?
Sense of Entitlement to Support for the Reconciliation of Employment and Family Life
Authors: Lewis Suzan , Smithson Janet
Published: April 2009

This article explores young European women and men’s expectations of support - from the state and employers - for reconciling paid employment and family life. It is based on a qualitative study employing focus groups with young women and men in Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Ireland and the UK. Drawing on the concept of sense of entitlement, derived from social justice theory, it was expected that the type of welfare state and ‘gender contract’ that young adults have experienced will influence their sense of entitlement to support for work and family life. Findings indicate that participants perceived their entitlement to state and employer support differently across national context. However this is moderated by gender, parental and occupational status, and particularly by awareness of provisions in other countries in the case of state support, while perceived entitlement to employer support varies according to the specific policy considered, gender and perception of benefits to employers. Some implications for public policy makers and employers are discussed.
Achieving Acculturation in Mergers and Acquisitions: An International Case Survey
Authors: Larsson Rikard , Lubatkin Michael
Published: April 2009

Various explanations have been suggested concerning the causes of ‘cultural clashes’ and prescriptions for harmoniously integrating the beliefs and values of merging firms. Using a form of meta-analysis known as a case survey design, which combines the ideographic richness of case studies with the statistical generalizability of larger samples, and a sample consisting of 50 mergers and acquisitions (23 US domestic, 15 Swedish domestic and 12 Swedish cross-border), we found that acculturation is best achieved when the buying firms rely on social controls. That is, by participating in such activities as introduction programs, training, cross-visits, retreats, celebrations and similar socialization rituals, employees will create, of their own volition, a joint organizational culture regardless of expectations of synergies, the relative organization size and differences in nationalities and cultures. A post hoc analysis of a proposed integration control typology further suggests that social controls also indirectly influence acculturation by acting in concert with formal integrative efforts.
Cooperation and Resistance in Work Innovation Networks
Authors: Harisson Denis , Laplante Normand , St-Cyr Louis
Published: April 2009

This study deals with the process of introducing total quality programmes in two metallurgical industry firms in which managers, unions representatives and workers actively participated through a network in which alliances were made by translating the interests of each party. The emergence of this network is put into context by considering workers' gains and losses. Based on the actor-network theory of innovation, the article describes the intentional creation and diffusion of innovation through cooperation and the resistance that took shape among certain groups of workers in each plant. The workers opposed to the network must have a high degree of autonomy in relation to the joint strategy of regulating the innovation process so that they can impose their conditions for integration into the network There is a strong association between the role of the trade union in the innovation process and the achievement of cooperation at the shopfloor level, but resistance gives way to another intermediary figure - the work group - which resists enrolling in the collective project.
The Interim Manager: Prototype of the 21 st-Century Worker?
Authors: Inkson Kerr , Heising Angela , Rousseau Denise M.
Published: April 2009

As organizations restructure to increase flexibility, interim management by contractors is increasing as an alternative to employment of `permanent' managers. Interim managers begin their new role on the basis of transactional psychological contracts with their employer Their careers are based on a logic of accumulation of learning across organizations. However, there are also forces that may over time cause the redefinition of the psychological contract, employment relationship and career orientation. Based on an interview survey of 50 interim managers, various metaphors are proposed to assist understanding. Interim managers may be considered, for example, as displaced persons, customers at a dating agency, or hired guns. A number of metaphors are employed to extend understanding of their developing employment relationships and careers. The implications of the findings are examined in relation to predictions concerning 21st-century forms of employment, organization and career.
Employer Control of Employees: Extending the Lincoln-Kalleberg Corporatist Model of Satisfaction and Attachment
Authors: Mulinge Munyae M.
Published: April 2009

Data from Kenya are utilized to revisit the Lincoln-Kalleberg corporatist control argument with a view to extending it to incorporate a fourth category - stress-reducing structures - of structural determinants of satisfaction and attachment. The results show strong support for the extended model and are consistent with Mueller et al. (1994) and Wallace's (I1995) position that the Lincoln-Kalleberg model is a general one that explains satisfaction and attachment even in non-corporatist work settings. It is concluded that the importance of work structures as determinants of satisfaction and attachment may differ across work settings but they are the basis of any initial model for explaining the same.
Moral Foundations of the Learning Organization
Authors: Snell Robin Stanley
Published: April 2009

Characteristics of learning organizations (LOs) include free exchange across communities of practice, networked knowledge and experience, continual improvement, learning leadership, open dialogue, continual transformation and protean psychological contracts. I identify I 0 moral foundations of LOs. They would house communal business cultures, accountable to Aristotelian and Kantian ethics. Power blocs would allow space for quieter, less obtrusive contributions to be valued, rather than imposing exploitative or mercenary discourses of appropriation. LOs would strive to improve their records of meeting stakeholders' moral claims. They would respond humbly to stakeholder criticism. Leadership would be humble and virtue seeking. There would be civil liberties. LOs would build, debug and update their own moral traditions. They would treat employees with compassion. They would also give special help and support to those challenged by obsolescence. There would be transparent operations and decision-making, engendering critical trust. I suggest how aspiring LOs may try to overcome problems of human defensiveness, limited moral reasoning capacity and fragmented moral terrain, and build these 10 moral foundations.
Family Dynamics in a Small Consultancy Firm: A Case Study
Authors: Ram Monder
Published: April 2009

Family-run enterprises are noted contributors to the small business population, particularly in terms of job creation and wealth generation. Moreover, it is well established that the presence of the family can be an important influence upon social relations in small firms. This paper examines whether family dynamics impinge upon the management of small consultancy firms, a sector that is closely associated with a discourse of' knowledge', `expertise', and `competence'. Based on a year-long case study of Whit Co, a husband and wife-owned small consultancy business, three questions are investigated. What is the nature of the family role in the consultancy business? How do employees in such settings view the family? What tactics do these usually credentialized workers deploy to handle family relations? The findings demonstrate that household relations rather than the activity of an `entrepreneurial individual' are important in understanding the operation of the small business; moreover, there is a tendency to underplay the role of the female partner in the initiation and maintenance of the firm. Employees value aspects of the `familyness' of the enterprise; for example, paternal approaches to social relations can generate feelings of inclusiveness. However, employees can perceive family roles as lacking in legitimacy if they are not underpinned by `competence'. Finally, employees' capacity to handle family relations is contingent upon their material importance to the firm.
The Relation between Political Ideology and Attitudes toward Affirmative Action among African-Americans: The Moderating Effect of Racial Discrimination in the Workplace
Authors: Fried Yitzhak , Levi Ariel S. , Billings Steven W. , Browne Kingsley R.
Published: April 2009

Survey data from two samples of African-American students supported the hypothesis that the association between political ideology and attitudes toward affirmative action (AA) is moderated by the experience of workplace discrimination. Specifically, ideology was associated with support for AA, but only among individuals who had not experienced discrimination. Among these individuals, egalitarians, who view fairness in terms of group equality, were more supportive of AA than were individualists, who view fairness from the perspective of the individual. Conversely, among individuals who had experienced discrimination, ideology was not related to attitude toward AA: support was high and approximately equal regardless of ideology. Findings were interpreted in terms of Referent Cognitions Theory (Folger, 1986).
Age Stereotypes and Discriminatory Attitudes towards Older Workers: An East-West Comparison
Authors: C.K. Chiu Warren , Chan Andy W. , Snape Ed , Redman Tom
Published: April 2009

This study compared age stereotypes among 567 respondents sampled in the UK and Hong Kong and examined how these stereotypes were related to discriminatory attitudes at work. Compared to the Hong Kong sample, UK respondents saw older workers as more effective at work, but less adaptable to change. As expected, respondents' own age was predictive of positive age stereotypes, although for supervisors this relationship was moderated in the case of perceptions of work effectiveness. Stereotypical beliefs were found to significantly affect respondents' attitudes towards the training, promotion and retention of older workers, their willingness to work with older workers, and their support for positive discrimination. Findings also suggest that anti-age discrimination policies in the respondent's organization had a positive impact on beliefs about the adaptability of older workers and possibly also on attitudes towards providing them with training. Implications of the findings were discussed in light of the existing socio-political environment in the UK and Hong Kong.
Teacher Stress and the Management of Accountability
Authors: Hepburn Alexa , Brown Steven D.
Published: April 2009

In this article we explore how teachers can draw upon the language of stress to perform strategically important and often politically sensitive social acts. Our aim will be to show that the description of teaching problems as a matter of ‘stress’ has important social and political implications for teachers. To do this we draw upon interviews with Scottish secondary school teachers; these interviews have been subjected to close textual analysis, informed by some of the basic principles of discursive psychology. The analysis shows teachers flexibly employing stress as a way of managing their own accountability, and of making sense of their institutional roles and relationships. To conclude, we suggest that employing stress as an individualized category not only suppresses its flexibility, but also encourages both teachers and their employers to offer token measures to manage it at a psychological level, rather than engaging in proper debate about the state of the profession.
Magic, Meaning and Leadership: Weber’s Model and the Empirical Literature
Authors: Jones Harold B.
Published: April 2009

Weber’s (1946) model of charismatic leadership offers a framework within which more recent theories and findings can be shown to have a place. The process he described begins as a challenge to an existing status quo and paves the way for another. The charismatic leader elicits a willing response from followers, who begin in the faith that they are pursuing purposes greater than their own but lay the foundations of a new status quo when they seek to legitimate their positions of power. Empirical theories and findings elucidate the stages of this process. The initial status quo, leader dependence upon the support of followers, attributions of charisma and the importance of follower feelings have been described under the headings of substitutes for leadership, leader traits and behavior, implicit leadership and transformational leadership. Leader-member exchange (LMX) and strategic contingencies theory describes the appearance of an administrative staff and tendencies toward a new status quo. Descriptions of organizational development bear similarities to Weber’s model and suggest opportunities for empirical research.
Fear of Exploitation and Fear of Contamination: Impediments to Knowledge Transfer in Mergers between Professional Service Firms
Authors: Empson Laura
Published: April 2009

Previous studies of knowledge transfer have identified a variety of impediments that derive from the knowledge base and the organizational context. However such explanations do not take account of the central role that individuals play in the knowledge transfer process, specifically in articulating and legitimizing the knowledge base and in shaping and interpreting the organizational context. This article examines the merger process as experienced within six accounting and consulting firms. It finds that professionals resist knowledge transfer when they perceive that the merging firms differ fundamentally in terms of the quality of their external image and the form of their knowledge base. Whilst professionals may attribute their resistance to commercial and objective concerns, their responses are also governed by highly personal and subjective factors. This study identifies this complex combination of factors as the twin fears of exploitation and contamination.
Knowledge Work: Ambiguity, Image and Identity
Authors: Alvesson Mats
Published: April 2009

This article takes a sceptical view of the functionalist understanding of the nature and significance of ‘knowledge’ in so-called knowledge- intensive companies. The article emphasizes the slipperiness of the concept of knowledge, the ambiguity of knowledge, its role in what is constructed as knowledge work and the evaluation of work outcomes. Given this ambiguity, the management of rhetoric, image and social processes appears crucial in organizations of this kind. Difficulties in demonstrating competence and performance - as well as the significance of producing the right impression - make work identity difficult to secure. However, this is a key element in doing knowledge work. Successful rhetoric, image production and orchestration of social interactions call for the regulation of employee identities.
Complex Thinking, Complex Practice: The Case for a Narrative Approach to Organizational Complexity
Authors: Tsoukas Haridimos , Hatch Mary Jo
Published: April 2009

Complexity is not only a feature of the systems we study, it is also a matter of the way in which we organize our thinking about those systems. This second-order complexity invites consideration of the modes of thinking we use to theorize about complexity, and in this article we develop the idea of second-order complexity using Jerome Bruner’s contrast between logico-scientific and narrative modes of thinking. Using Bruner’s framework, we examine and critique dominant forms of thinking about organizational complexity that are rooted in the logico-scientific mode, and suggest alternatives based in the narrative mode. Our evidence for the value of doing this comes from the logic of complexity theory itself, which we claim indicates and supports the use of the narrative mode. The potential contribution of the narrative approach to developing second-order thinking about organizational complexity is demonstrated by taking a narrative approach to the matter of recursiveness. By extension, similar insights are indicated for other features that logico-scientific thinkers commonly attribute to complex systems, including, nonlinearity, indeterminacy, unpredictability and emergence.
A System Cybernetic Approach to the Dynamics of Individual- and Organizational-Level Trust
Authors: Oliver Amalya L. , Montgomery Kathleen
Published: April 2009

In this article, we argue that trust is a system-related concept and that it is a continuously evolving state of information gathering, processing, and feedback. Based on this argument, we demonstrate the usefulness of the conceptual framework of cybernetics to an understanding of the dynamics of developing and sustaining trust. We begin with some background information about the science of cybernetics and the basic principles relevant to this framework that enable a system to function effectively. We then use the principles of cybernetics to illustrate the dynamic nature of trust within the social system of a complex organization and externally between organizations in an environment. We summarize by relating our model to recent theoretical developments in the trust literature and by providing suggestions for future research using a cybernetic framework.
Beyond Structure: The Role of Social Accounts in Implementing Ideal Control
Authors: Cobb Anthony T. , Stephens Carroll , Watson George
Published: April 2009

In order to survive, the contemporary organization must quickly adapt to its ever-changing markets and environment. The methods of structural control associated with the bureaucratic organizational form impede such adaptation. As a result, organizations are supplanting structural control with newer means of control - the control of ideas. Drawing on and extending social accounts theory, the authors explore how social accounts are used as one method to help to gain control of ideas, lessening management’s dependence on bureaucratic structures. The article exemplifies the managerial use of social accounts by reviewing the text of a videotape used by one organization in its attempt to influence workers’ ideas about management, unions and their own interests in order to keep the organization union free. The authors conclude with a discussion of how managerial uses of social accounts can be resisted by workers.
When is Criticism Not Constructive? The Roles of Fairness Perceptions and Dispositional Attributions in Employee Acceptance of Critical Supervisory Feedback
Authors: Leung Kwok , Su Steven , Morris Michael W.
Published: April 2009

The effects of justice and dispositional attribution on reactions to negative supervisory feedback were examined in two studies. Study 1 showed that criticism delivered with greater interpersonal fairness resulted in more favourable dispositional attributions about the supervisor, more acceptance of the feedback, and more favourable reactions towards the superior and the organization. The beneficial influence of just interpersonal treatment was general across various feedback contexts, although the magnitude varied. Study 2 clarified the causal ordering: just interpersonal treatment reduced negative dispositional attribution, which in turn increased feedback acceptance and improved attitudes towards the supervisor. Study 2 also distinguished the consequences of perceived fairness in the formal procedures applied to forming the feedback, as opposed to interpersonal treatment during its delivery.
Forward from a Critique of Hofstede’s Model of National Culture
Authors: Williamson Dermot
Published: April 2009

McSweeney’s critique (2002) rejects Hofstede’s model and finds national culture implausible as a systematically causal factor of behaviour. His critique is examined for its useful warnings to those who follow Hofstede’s research and for its logical consistency. A paradigmatic perspective identifies where McSweeney argues against Hofstede’s logic and where he rejects Hofstede’s paradigm and premises. This indicates that both the functionalist and other paradigms are needed for future research into national culture and for understanding social behaviour in different national cultures.
The Content of Effective Teamwork Mental Models in Self-Managing Teams: Ownership, Learning and Heedful Interrelating
Authors: Druskat Vanessa Urch , Pescosolido Anthony T.
Published: April 2009

A growing stream of theory and research suggests that overlap in team member mental models (i.e. socially constructed theories about systems and their expected behavior) has a positive influence on team processes and outcomes. In this article we argue that for self- managing work teams (SMWTs), the content of those shared mental models is also important. We begin by reviewing theory on SMWT effectiveness to determine the content of effective teamwork mental models in SMWTs. These are proposed to include: (1) psychological ownership of team processes and outcomes; (2) a need for continuous learning; and (3) a need for heedful interrelating. We then conduct content analyses of four published longitudinal studies of SMWTs to uncover the opportunities and challenges to developing and sustaining these mental models in dynamic organizations. Results suggest these mental models flourish when organizational supports back up their existence. However, since mental models are fluid and adapt to explicit and implicit messages, they weaken if shifting priorities cause organizational support to wane. Finally, the implications of our findings are discussed.
The Structure of the Meaning of Work: A Relative Stability Amidst Change
Authors: Harpaz Itzhak , Fu Xuanning
Published: April 2009

The theoretical and empirical literature assumes stability of important attitudes and values. Accordingly, this study examined the hypothesis that the structure of the meaning of work will remain stable over time. This hypothesis was tested on two independent samples of the Israeli labour force. The first ( n = 407) was a group of individuals who were interviewed twice, once in 1981 and again in 1993. The second was a new representative sample ( n = 942) of the labour force, assembled in 1993, to serve as a comparison with the first sample. The findings generally support the hypothesis regarding the stability over time of the structure of the meaning of work concept.
Customers, Boardrooms and Gossip: Theme Repetition and Metapatterns in the Texture of Organizing
Authors: Myers Piers
Published: April 2009

This article draws together theoretical strands from cognitive science, psychoanalysis, and small-group psychology in order to discuss theme repetition in organizations. It suggests that attending to the possibility of theme repetition, even in apparently inconsequential interactions and small talk, can bring to light previously unnoticed connotations of policy or strategy. This discussion leads on to a re-examination and expansion of the notion of metapatterns. These are tacit, emergent patterns of theme repetition in the meanings of organizational contexts. Metapatterns may contribute to enculturation, culture formation and the establishment of organizational stories, histories and artefacts. They may also form a critical obstruction to organizational learning and change. Consequences for researchers and consultants are investigated and it is proposed that, if metapatterns are to alter, recognition of a change agent’s own involvement in metapattern themes is required.
‘Thou Art a Scholar, Speak to it...’ - on Spaces of Speech: A Script
Authors: Steyaert Chris , Hjorth Daniel
Published: April 2009

This article argues, based on the work of Bakhtin and de Certeau, that there is no aesthetics without politics and that all academic discourse and practices are enacted through aesthetic forms with inherently political and ethical effects. The article is written in a script-form with indications on how to perform it, acting out or ‘performing’ in a direct way rather than adding to the arguments already present in organizational literature. In a prologue (which can be read after reading the script by readers who do not want to harm its open impact), we discuss aspects of this choice: through the use of a different form for telling a story, we want to focus on the political and ethical implications of an aesthetic approach to organizing and how this can influence scholarly work. The script wants to move readers through various spaces of speech where society becomes organized. Through such movements we want to contribute to the imagination of possible ways of ‘performing oneself’ as an academic citizen in society. As an imaginative experiment, this article hopes to inspire scholars to (re)consider their habitual forms of publication and public action, and to address the question of ‘how to speak to it’ including the question of aesthetic genres and societal relationships.
Effects of Blend Morphology on the Foaming of Polypropylene/ Low-density Polyethylene Blends during a Batch Foaming Process
Authors: Jiang Xiu-Lei , Tao Liu  , Ling Zhao  , Xu Zhi-Mei , Yuan Wei-Kang
Published: April 2009

The effect of blend morphology on the foaming of polypropylene (PP)/low-density polyethylene (LDPE) blends with different blend ratios has been studied in this work. The results showed that the cell morphology of a foamed blend was significantly impacted by the blend morphology and foaming conditions. When the foaming temperature was close to the melting temperature of LDPE, cells were nucleated at the interfaces of PP droplets and LDPE matrix in the 10/90 and 25/75 PP/LDPE blends and grew in the LDPE matrix. Also, cells could only grow in the LDPE phase in the 90/10 and 75/25 PP/LDPE blends and consequently their sizes were determined by the sizes of the LDPE droplets. However, when the foaming temperature was close to the melting temperature of PP, cells with bimodal cell size distributions were generated in the pure PP, 90/10 and 75/25 PP/LDPE foams. In particular, fine open-cell structure was formed in the co-continuous 50/50 PP/LDPE blend.