bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
COMPETITIVENESS IN NEW TECHNOLOGY SECTORS
Authors: Littler Dale
Published: January 2008

The spectre of declining international competitiveness has haunted Britain since the latter half of the nineteenth century; but the need to improve the market performance of Britain's manufacturing industry in the light of the chronic decline in world market share, the rising penetration of manufactured imports in the domestic market, and a growing increase in the deficit on the balance of UK trade in manufactures, has been particularly stridently stated throughout the post‐war period. Numerous reports and academic studies have been generated that have tended to concentrate for the most part on the reasons for the poor economic performance. A pot pourri of explanations have been offered, ranging from an emphasis on traditional “empire” and hence captive markets, an inadequate educational system, and an over concentration of scarce R&D resources on defence sectors, through to a lack of a sufficiently inspired marketing orientation, a failure to invest in the longer term (because of inter alia the myopia of the UK financial community) and insufficient effort directed towards being technologically innovative. Within these it might be discerned lie the seeds of a range of policy prescriptions and strategies. The problem is that many of these tend to reside in the province of Government or are too general to have any effective relevance for management. What is needed is a more “on the ground” approach founded on a deeper understanding of how individual businesses establish a competitive position in their particular market, and the means that their managers employ to preserve competitiveness. It is also clear that one needs to explore the notion of competitiveness, which has received a glib notoriety, and possibly a variety of confused and probably in some cases meaningless interpretations. We have therefore established a research programme at UMIST aimed at exploring the nature of new technology sectors, the implications for, in particular, strategic management of businesses operating in them, and the competitive strategies such businesses employ. In this way we aimed to draw out some lessons on competitiveness.
THE EMERGING ISSUES FROM MARKET SEGMENTATION RESEARCH IN THE PERSONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR
Authors: Joseph Lurene , Yorke David
Published: January 2008

The burning issue which faces the providers of personal financial services is related to the nature of their response to “Increased Competition and Squeezed Profits”. In the 1980's more so than at any previous period, personal financial service institutions have realised that new strategies had to be developed and implemented if they were to maintain both their competitive edge and achieve their profit objectives.
BARRIERS TO ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE: THE ROLE OF CULTURE
Authors: Burnes Bernard
Published: January 2008

Organisational culture has been a recurring theme in the literature on organisations over the last decade. Indeed, it sometimes seems almost impossible to find a book or journal without some reference, albeit often superficial, to the curative and restorative powers of organisational culture. The literature is studded with oft‐repeated phrases which still trip neatly off the tongue: “a strong culture makes a strong organisation….” (Handy, 1986:188), even when the context has been forgotten.
SHAPING TECHNOLOGY AND SHAPING THE MARKET
Authors: Green Kenneth
Published: January 2008

This article is from on‐going research into how firms develop new technologies for new markets, particularly markets for medical and bio‐ technologies. The research is exploring the view that in “innovating” a new product a firm will not just be developing some new technology, that is engaging in Research and Development. Innovation also involves the firm in actively trying to create new markets as well. Indeed innovation means “moulding” both the product and the market at the same time. Shaping a new technology and shaping a new market go together.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT
Authors: Marchington Mick , Goodman John , Wilkinson Adrian , Ackers Peter
Published: January 2008

The subject of employee involvement (El) has become much more central to debates about industrial relations and personnel management over the course of the last decade. Employers, confronted by increasingly competitive product markets and a greater emphasis on quality and customer care, have started to focus attention much more explicitly on attempts to develop and motivate employees, as well as aiming to draw more fully upon employee knowledge and talents. At the same time, developments within the EC — especially via the Social Charter — have caused British employers to think more carefully about how to involve employees at work. Amongst the academic community, the subject has also undergone a renaissance, with researchers questioning whether EI is really new, whether it is little more than a facade for u itarist management, or how it interrelates with human resource management or the “new industrial relations”. It is within such a context that our study of employee involvement was commissioned by the Department of Employment and commenced in the summer of 1989.
MARKETING MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT: A NOTE
Authors: Sweeting Robert C.
Published: January 2008

The end of the 1980's has seen the effects of the active marketing of some “new products” which have resulted from management accounting research. This note examines issues raised by this innovation process and the implications for academics, practitioners and users of management accounting. One product of managerial accounting research will be examined in particular — activity based accounting (ABC). ABC is controversial and has been the subject of many academic, practitioner, management and newspaper publications in recent years (for example: Johnson and Kaplan (1987), Brimson (1986), Porter and Akers (1987)). To set the background to this note some of the main features of the innovation process will be outlined.
D'ARTAGNAN AND MUSKETEERS OR ERROL FLYNN WITH SWORDBEARERS? THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEADS AND DEPUTIES IN SCHOOLS
Authors: Torrington Derek , Weightman Jane
Published: January 2008

The ideas and evidence presented here are part of a piece of research commissioned by ESRC at UMIST on Management and Organisation of Secondary Schools (MOSS). A research team of nine included six serving teachers seconded from their authorities for twelve months. The main fieldwork phase was in 1986 and 1987. Methods included semi‐structured interviews and extensive observations. Aspects of the work have already been reported (e.g. Torrington, Weightman and Johns, 1987; Torrington & Weightman, 1989b; Reid, 1988; Adams, 1988). A full account of the research findings is in Torrington and Weightman, 1989a).
A STUDY OF QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN U.K. MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY: SOME RESEARCH FINDINGS
Authors: Lascelles David M. , Dale Barrie G.
Published: January 2008

The UMIST Quality Management Centre is involved in four main activities: (i) research into Total Quality Management, (ii) the operation of a TQM Multi‐Company Teaching Programme involving eight industrial collaborators at any one time, (iii) the Centre houses the Ford Motor Company Regional Training Centre for training suppliers in total quality excellence and statistical process control, and (iv) TQM consultancy, including the Q‐Share initiative. This latter activity is carried out by Q‐MAS Ltd. (a campus based company in which UMIST has a significant shareholding).
LINKING EXPERIENCES WITH OUTCOMES IN GRADUATE DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Arnold John , Mackenzie Davey Kate
Published: January 2008

As Perkins (1990) points out, it has already become commonplace to observe that there is a substantial and increasing shortage of skilled young people entering the labour market. That much is well known, but what is to be done about it? One response emerged in the UK government's 1989 autumn public spending statement, in which plans were announced to increase the number of graduates by 10% over the next three years. Whilst this may help overcome certain skills shortages, the extra graduates will of course mean fewer other young entrants to the labour market. The overall supply of labour market entrants will only be increased to the extent that older people currently outside the labour market are encouraged to enter it. Skilled young people will remain hard to find. This article focusses on graduates, who form a large proportion of those skilled young people.
Employee Stock Ownership Plans: Popularity, Productivity, and Prospects
Authors: Durso Gianna
Published: January 2008

Employee ownership has a rich tradition throughout the world in the form of co‐operative enterprises, however, the concept has received a new boost in the form of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). In order to understand why the stock model of ownership has received so much attention worldwide, one must examine the known and potential benefits of this model. As the United States provides the most widespread example of employee stock ownership, we shall begin our discussion there. The next section addresses in depth the corporate performance benefits of employee ownership and outlines additional benefits of interest throughout the world. The final section offers a brief look at employee ownership worldwide.
Venture Capital Firms: Commonalities and Differences
Authors: Fried Vance H. , Hisrich Robert D.
Published: January 2008

The venture capital industry is of vital importance to many entrepreneurial firms, as well as to those interested in economic development. Research on the venture capital industry generally treats it as a single, homogeneous industry. However, the industry is actually made up of a variety of sub‐groups. An understanding of these sub‐groups is important to venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, public policy makers and academics.
Healthy Outlook for UK Market Research Industry
Authors: Todd Peter
Published: January 2008

The Market Research Society (MRS) is the professional industry body for those producing and using techniques for market, social and economic research. Over the last forty years the UK market research industry has gone from strength to strength and the MRS has grown alongside it. In 1946, the inaugural year for the MRS, there were 23 members. Today the Society has over 6,500 members, making it the largest market research organisation in the world. In 1988 the 350 market research companies who employ the majority of these individuals had a turnover in excess of £300 million. Thirty‐two of the largest companies who form the Association of Market Survey Organisations (AMSO), representing 80% of the industry's turnover, had a growth in combined turnover of 15% in 1988 and their overseas subsidiaries accounted for a turn‐over of £100 million. The Association of British Market Research Companies (ABMRC) representing many of the other research companies also reports a substantial growth in turnover. Evidently market research in the UK is in a very healthy state, but who buys it, and what is its future?
Understanding consumer choice: a new approach?
Authors: Marchant Len , Hutchinson Peter
Published: January 2008

To give objective guidance the market researcher needs a clear and valid conceptual model of consumer choice, a compatible quantifiable model, accurate meaningful measures and relevance to the real world.
Citizenship, morality and broadcasting
Authors: Docherty David , Morrison David
Published: January 2008

In May 1988, the Home Secretary announced the establishment of the Broadcasting Standards Council. The new eight‐person Council is chaired by Lord Rees‐Mogg. As well as its responsibilities for monitoring broadcasts and dealing with complaints, the Council was invited by the Home Secretary to draw up a code of practice on the portrayal of violence and sex and of standards of taste and decency, and to undertake research on matters such as the nature and effect on attitudes and behaviour of the portrayal of violence and of sex on television, radio and video.
Researching people with disabilities
Authors: George Philip
Published: January 2008

There are over six million disabled adults in this country. This was the principal finding of the recent OPCS survey into disability — a finding which surprised many people. Given that disability is more prevalent among the elderly, our ageing population profile means that the number of disabled people is going to increase rather than decrease over the next decade. This, coupled with the greater marketing orientation of major charities and pressure groups representing disabled people, will mean that market research among disabled people will increasingly be in demand, and researchers will have to address the methodological issues that are involved. This paper seeks to examine some of these issues by sharing BMRB's recent experiences on two projects among people with disabilities.
The Green consumer revelation: How the availability of environmentally friendly products has really affected household purchasing patterns
Authors: Passingham Judith , Battinson Nick
Published: January 2008

After examining why the Green era happened and putting Britain in a European context the authors move on to consumer perceptions of the environmental issue. They argue that the majority of work undertaken so far has concentrated on perceptions and understanding of the issues. In order to relate attitudinal data to purchasing data they have undertaken an omnibus study relating back the findings to those found on the panel data.
Camera tracking: a new tool for market research and retail management
Authors: Phillips H.C. , Bradshaw R.P.
Published: January 2008

Various attempts have been made to study in‐store customer behaviour, mainly using manual recording techniques. Manual recording usually involves tracking a customer round a store and tracing the customer's path on a store plan. Other behavioural features such as product handling, verbal contact with sales assistants, display viewing, can also be recorded on the store plan. The recorded data can then be collected and an overall picture of customer traffic and customer behaviour obtained. The extremely labour intensive nature of this technique makes it very time consuming and difficult to obtain a large sample size. Furthermore it is almost impossible to gain a comprehensive picture of customer behaviour throughout the whole store at any given moment or series of moments in time.
“… And what sex will you be next birthday?” The Market Research Week Survey revisited
Authors: Farr Derek , McKenzie John
Published: January 2008

As part of the 1989 Market Research Week initiative to promote the “Your Opinion Counts” campaign, a number of the leading Telephone Research agencies volunteered to undertake a telephone research study amongst consumers nationwide. The principle objective of the study was to provide useful information for promotion purposes, covering the views of people in Britain about the major issues confronting our people today, and their opinion of the sort of place they think the world will be in 1999.
The management and valuation of marketing information
Authors: Blyth Bill
Published: January 2008

The paper takes, as its starting point, the belief that the management and valuation of information in the broadest sense is ignored in both management texts and practice.
Pan‐European advertising: dream or reality?
Authors: Keen Karen , Hellebosch Lucienne
Published: January 2008

Much has already been said and written about the future of Pan‐ European advertising, a review of which clearly indicates the existence of two camps among the affected parties.
The face to face interviewer: an endangered species?
Authors: Hall Stella , Katryniak Jackie
Published: January 2008

This paper sets out to present evidence that the face to face interviewer is indeed an endangered species. They examine the issues involved and the importance of the factors which seem to play a part. They explore the long‐term implications and put forward possible solutions.
New profiles of affluence: marketing to the rich in the 1990s
Authors: Valentine Ginny , Wright David
Published: January 2008

By the year 2000 the Henley Centre forecast that whilst Britain in aggregate will have a third more spending power than it currently possesses, the upper quintile in the population will experience almost a 50% increase in their real standard of living.
Fieldwork — are full‐time interviewers the way forward?
Authors: Amar Maureen
Published: January 2008

NOP's problem was that they had insufficient interviewers in London generally and particularly in certain areas; those they had are not fully mobile in the sense that they cannot oblige them to work in certain areas if they choose not to; and the quality of the work produced, in terms of response rates, is poor compared with elsewhere.
“I'll give you my opinion for what it's worth”
Authors: Miller Sharon , Nunwick Karen
Published: January 2008

The purpose of this paper is to explore the views of all those involved in the giving and receiving of incentives — respondents, interviewers, field office staff, researchers and buyers of research.
STATE OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE RESEARCH IN STEEL INDUSTRIES
Authors: Poornachandra Rao P. , Singh R. , Mohanty R.P.
Published: January 2008

The objective of this paper is to present the existing state of research relating to the steel industries.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE MANUFACTURING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES WITHIN THE U.K. AIRCRAFT INDUSTRY
Authors: Male Peter John
Published: January 2008

The purpose of this research was to determine the reasons behind the volatile nature of the U.K. aircraft manufacturing industry. This instability was demonstrated in 1988 when of the handful of U.K. general aviation aircraft manufacturers left in existence, both A.R.V. and Norman went into receivership. A further two had been drawn into receivership earlier in their history and most had a background of takeovers along with persistent financial problems.
BUSINESS GROWTH PROGRAMMES: A MODEL FOR SUCCESS
Authors: Houghton Martin , Paton Robert
Published: January 2008

Ever since the Bolton Committee published its Report in 1979, the small firm sector has been a focus for economic regeneration and employment creation. The potential of this sector was further highlighted by the controversial research findings of Birch. Notwithstanding the rigour and robustness of the work, it was used to strengthen and validate the U.K. government's policy of providing considerable assistance towards encouraging new “start‐ups”.
INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT AS A COMPETITIVE STRATEGY: THE CASE OF THE BRITISH FOOD AND DRINK INDUSTRIES
Authors: Balasubramanyam V.N. , Nguyen D.T.
Published: January 2008

This paper reviews the nature, extent, and determinants of the overseas operations of the British food and drink processing industries with a view to analysing the competitiveness of the sector in international markets.
Competence in Managers Some Unresolved Issues for Research
Authors: Bradley Jim
Published: January 2008

We hear and read much about managerial competence and competence based approaches to management education and development (Albanese 1989) but what is competence in managers? Much of the literature and company practice in developing management competence treats competence as an unproblematic concept. Competence is just competence. Everyone knows what competence is, don't they?
THE EFFECT OF GRADUATE MANAGEMENT ACTION LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS ON PUBLIC REFLECTIVENESS IN MANAGERIAL PRACTICE
Authors: Raelin Joseph A.
Published: January 2008

In 1957 at an earlier time when there was a chorus of criticism against business education but for different reasons than today, President Clark Kerr of the University of California, himself a professor of business, in addressing his colleagues made the now‐famous statement that, “business administration was busy searching for its soul”. Today, there is still a chorus of criticism against business education. In the United States the field is also known to have become too academic, too technical, too narrow, and as a result, responsible for graduates who are not prepared to be future leaders in a world‐wide economy (Cheit, 1985). In a less well‐known part of that same speech, President Kerr may have pointed to the reason for business education losing its way. He also said that the managers of that day work “….within a context given to them”. That is to say, they don't tend to question the purpose of their mission.
THE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS: PUZZLE SOLVING OR PARADIGM SHIFTING?
Authors: Chia Robert
Published: January 2008

Interest in the issue of management development has become a major preoccupation in recent years amongst both practitioners and management theorists. Constable and McCormick (1987) and Handy (1987) have both noted the inadequacy of British managerial education in their reports and unambiguously urged for a steep increase in management development efforts. The outcome has been a dramatic upsurge in the demand for managerial education and development both through the established educational institutions as well as management consultancies. Storey (1989) notes that the common theme which prevails is “to treat management development as a key device to engineer organizational change” (Storey 1989: 4). One major consequence of this understanding has been the concerted attempts to identify key managerial competencies which it is believed will lead to better managerial performance. While this has become the central preoccupation of the Management Charter Initiative, there are those who view this search for a generalisable list of managerial competencies with increasing apprehension (Burgoyne 1989). Burgoyne contends that a “universal mechanistic differentiated list of managerial competencies” is highly inappropriate because it overlooks the holistic nature of the management process. The idea of the possibility of arriving at a universal list of managerial competencies is predicated upon a particular understanding which privileges a pro‐observational model of what managers do. Thus following Mintzberg (1973) and Stewart (1967), a number of writers have continued to propose alternative models which are claimed to reflect more accurately effective managerial action (Kotter 1982; Luthans, Rosenkrantz and Hennessey 1985). Despite these attempts however, the nature of management remains an open question (Stewart 1984).
MANUFACTURING MANAGEMENT IN MAKE‐TO‐ORDER COMPANIES
Authors: Hendry Linda C.
Published: January 2008

Make‐to‐order (MTO) companies manufacture goods to customer specification. They produce a large number of different items, each unique because of the particular requirements of each customer. These companies do not commence production of any item until they have a firm order and have agreed a price and delivery date with the customer. Their characteristics and manufacturing management problems contrast sharply with those of Make‐to‐stock (MTS) companies, which mass produce a small variety of similar items. As most of the research to date has been aimed at the latter type of company, the need to develop manufacturing management systems specifically for the MTO sector is evident. A thorough review of the literature carried out at Lancaster illustrated that even modern manufacturing management systems such as Optimised Production Technology (OPT) and Just‐in‐Time (JIT) have failed to address the specific problems of this sector of manufacturing.
NEW DIRECTIONS IN ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS AND BEHAVIOUR
Authors: Reed Michael
Published: January 2008

Over the last twenty years or so the study of organizations has gone through a period of considerable change and instability. Both in terms of its substantive agenda and the theoretical perspectives through which it has been articulated and pursued, discontinuity and flux have been the order of the day. The recurring theme has been one of a fundamental transformation — some would say a veritable “paradigm shift” — in the theoretical forms through which the field is defined and structured as a coherent discipline. Intellectual change and discontinuity have been mirrored by the emergence of novel organizational structures and practices which seem to signify a sharp break with more orthodox arrangements based on the principles of rational bureaucracy. Indeed, the scale and intensity of intellectual fermentation and institutional innovation have prompted some commentators to suggest that organizational studies can no longer be regarded as a discipline or, less ambitiously, as a sub‐ discipline within the general field of social science. At the other end of the theoretical spectrum, there are some people fighting a rearguard action against the proliferation of alternative approaches and the corrosive influence which it has exerted on established orthodoxies and the order that they once provided.
CRITICAL ISSUES IN THE STUDY OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURES
Authors: Linstead Stephen
Published: January 2008

The concept of culture in an organizational context is by no means an invention of the 1980's, but there can be little disputing that it has enjoyed a spectacular proliferation during this period. In what follows I will briefly outline the major theoretical positions which have arisen, the problems resulting from these approaches, and some new avenues in response to these problems which are being pursued at Lancaster.
Information Technology Based Open Learning
Authors: Hodgson Vivien
Published: January 2008

For the past two years, the Centre for the Study of Management Learning (CSML) has been carrying out research into Information Technology based Open Learning (ITOL). The overall aim of the research has been to develop the potential that information technology offers for, in particular, distance, open education. The impetus for the research comes largely from a sympathy with such views of T.R. Morrison who recently commented that:
Employment Relations in the British Public Sector
Authors: Thomason George
Published: January 2008

The British public sector comprises the civil and military services, the educational, health, safety and security services, and a small number of trading enterprises (the ‘nationalised industries’) which remain in public ownership. The national Exchequer is either wholly or partly involved in the funding and control of the various services, the other partner where control is shared being the local government authorities or the health authorities. The nature and extent of both funding and control are in course of change as attempts are made to devolve responsibility for service management to local bodies and to introduce a closer financial control of their activities from the centre.
Industrial Relations in Europe in the 1990s: New Business Strategies and the Challenge to Organised Labour
Authors: Amoroso Bruno
Published: January 2008

The forecasting of developments in European business strategies in the 1990s must begin with an analysis of the major structural changes which have taken place in the industrialised countries' economies during the last decade.
Strategic Responses to Flexibility ‐ A Case Study in Coal
Authors: Prowse Peter , Clapham Mike
Published: January 2008

This paper will discuss the issues of internal flexibility in an organisation and will analyse how the Institute of Manpower studies model of the flexible firm has been utilised in the coal mining industry in the UK.
Structured and Creative Approaches to Strategy Formulation
Authors: Proctor R.A.
Published: January 2008

This article examines approaches or techniques that enable an organisation to relate to its environment and help it to develop business strategies. The techniques are simple structuring devices that simplify the process of problem solving or decision making. They help the gaining of new insights into persistently difficult problems. They should be part and parcel of the know‐ how of any senior management team and a priority in the teaching repertoire of management trainers/educators.
A New Planning Model for the Public and Nonprofit Sector
Authors: Kemp Roger L. , Kemp Jonathan D.
Published: January 2008

Strategic planning is a common practice in the corporate world. While many private‐sector organisations are now using strategic planning practices, public and nonprofit officials have only recently begun to embrace this concept. This is being done to enhance their organisation's ability to cope with an ever‐changing environment‐both external and internal. Since business models of strategic planning are designed to increase a company's profits and/or control its environment, such practices should be modified and adapted to properly “fit” the unique political and administrative environment of a particular organisation.
What Moves the Invisible Hand: The Unaddressed Linkages Between the Psychological Study of Religion and Managerial Behaviour
Authors: Wyld David C. , Cappel Sam D. , Hallock Daniel E.
Published: January 2008

Years ago, Henry D. Lloyd defined religion as being the “conscience in action.” The concept of religion is one which is indeed completely individualised in both perspective and importance. However, as Bailey (1983) observed, the very basis for theology lies in the explanatory power of religion when examined through the perspective of psychology. Byron (1988) saw a theological basis to the functions of management and entrepreneurship, linking these activities to the religious duty of stewardship.
Characteristics of High and Low Growth Small & Medium Sized Businesses
Authors: Macrae Donald J.R.
Published: January 2008

This paper describes the results of research into the characteristics of high and low growth small and medium sized businesses in Scotland.
Human Resource Management: Efficiency and Economic Organisation?
Authors: Clark Ian
Published: January 2008

Within the disciplines which examine and evaluate the employment relationship, Human Resource Management (HRM) has become a major arena for prescriptive adoption and to some degree critical evaluation. This adoption and evaluation lack penetrative connection to economistic perspectives on industrial organisation. This lacuna is the stimulus behind this paper.
International Managers and Mobile Families: The Professional and Personal Dynamics of Trans‐National Career Pathing and Job Mobility in the 1990s
Authors: Forster Nick
Published: January 2008

The rapid internationalisation of companies has been one of the most significant economic and sociological developments in domestic, European and global markets over the last forty years. Growing numbers of British companies are intent on increasing their presence in both continental European and global markets in the 1990s. For example, 62% of a group of 171 UK organisations surveyed in 1990 planned to expand their business interests into Europe. At the same time, international careers are becoming increasingly common features of the working lives of British professionals, managers and their dependants.
The Role of Social Agency in the Application of New Organisation and Management Strategies: Employee Responses to HRM Packages in Three UK Automotive Companies
Authors: Garrahan Philip , Stewart Paul
Published: January 2008

Current debates about new management strategies exhibit a marked tendency to regard economic, political and social changes largely as though they amount to the end of an old era and the beginning of something new. New production arrangements have been envisaged before, usually with reference to the transitionary period of industrial development around the late 1960s and early 1970s. Others have described current transitions to new management arrangements variously as part of Post Fordism, of Japanisation, of Lean Production, or of Toyotaism.
Equal Opportunities Policies and Developments in Human Resource Management: A Comparative European Analysis
Authors: Hegewisch Ariane
Published: January 2008

Equal opportunities policies in Europe are finding themselves in the middle of a paradox. On the one hand, after years of campaigning, the European Community and the Treaty of Rome have insured a legal framework for equality of opportunity for men and women which far exceeds what would have been likely to happen in most national states. Regarding individual employers, the number of organisations proclaiming to be equal opportunities employers and introducing measures to positively counter discrimination has never been higher. In Britain this is best exemplified by Opportunity 2000 and Britain is not alone in Europe with a concern for the underutilisation of women's labour. Initiatives in the field of race discrimination are less widespread and suffer from the absence of any EC remit in this area. However, at least in some European countries such as Britain and the Netherlands, the debates on equality of opportunities increasingly have left their narrow focus on gender issues and are beginning to include race discrimination. Without wanting to overstate the effectiveness of these initiatives in practice, particularly in improving working conditions for women and black people in lower paid or skilled jobs, there appears to be then, at the beginning of the 1990s, a relatively favourable institutional base from which to fight discrimination in employment.
Decentralisation and Workplace Industrial Relations in the NHS
Authors: LIoyd Caroline , Seifert Roger
Published: January 2008

The current debate concerning the transformation of work, new management practices and flexibility in employment, has proved to be inadequate in its lack of attention given to the public sector. The wide ranging policies which have been proposed and/or implemented in the public sector have tended to be ignored, despite their potential for change being perhaps greater than those in the private sector, ie. the introduction of market concepts and the loss of security of employment. Management reorganisation, including financial devolution, has been linked to flexible work practices in a number of areas of the public service sector, but there has been little attempt to analyse these in terms of workplace industrial relations.
The World of Women's Work: The Benefits of Cross‐National Research on Women's Employment
Authors: Truss Catherine
Published: January 2008

Much has been written on the nature of gender segregation in the labour market, but it is only recently that researchers have turned to cross‐national comparisons as a means of developing more sophisticated analyses. This paper presents the findings of one study of women's employment in three different countries, and argues that cross‐national comparisons have a crucial role to play in theory‐development in the area of women's employment. The paper focuses in particular on evaluating cross‐national research methodologies.
Organisational Change and HRM: A Longitudinal Case Study
Authors: Beaumont P.B. , Hunter L.C.
Published: January 2008

In the existing literature on organisational change (with a strong emphasis on human resource management) the cases discussed are frequently at the opposite ends of a spectrum: a new plant or greenfield site situation or a brownfield site where change is sought in an older, established organisation. This paper reports the interim results of an on‐going investigation of a hybrid case study, which involves the building of a new factory on an existing site where the other on‐going businesses of the company are located.
Changing the TQM Boundaries: Extensions into the Supply Chain: Initial Stages in a Research Project
Authors: Bessant John , Lamming Richard , Levy Paul , Sang Bob
Published: January 2008

This short informal paper introduces a research project carried out at The Centre for Business Research, based at Brighton Business School entitled: “Total Quality Management in the Supply Chain”. The project is funded by the ACME Directorate of the Science and Engineering Research Council.
The Problems of Effecting Change within the British Civil Service: A Cultural Perspective
Authors: Brooks Ian , Bate Paul
Published: January 2008

This paper uses a cultural perspective to explore the problems of change within the British Civil Service. The catalyst for such change is the Government's “Improving Management in government: Next Steps” report (1988). Its intention is to alter radically the structure of the government in the 1990s and beyond. Such a transformation is consistent with other government change initiatives introduced into the NHS, the education service and the prison system. These are both radical and ambitious and illustrate the growing determination to counter what are regarded as the weaknesses and inefficiencies of centralized bureaucracy.
Leadership and Organisational Transformation
Authors: Bryman Alan , Gillingwater David , McGuinness Iain
Published: January 2008

One of the features of the New Leadership literature that has come to exert a substantial influence over leadership research in recent years is the role of leadership in relation to organizational transformation. Leadership is increasingly depicted as concerned with instilling of vision which has often carried with it the connotation or implication of changing organizations. The term ‘transformational’ leader exemplifies this tendency. The originator of the term, Burns (1978), was referring to the transformation of those individuals who are encompassed by it, so that they become highly motivated by and engaged in the leader's cause. Increasingly, however, the term has come to refer to leadership that involves the transformation of organizations, with the image of the bold leader promoting a dramatic turnaround in his/her company's fortunes. This kind of theme receives further reinforcement from the growing business leader hagiography, which lionises (or in some cases self‐lionises) such figures as lacocca, Carlzon, Sculley, and Harvey‐Jones. These leaders have come to public attention because of the association of their leadership with the transformation of their organizations. This literature comes close to portraying the heroic leader as capable of succeeding against all odds. The leader comes across as almost omnipotent and omniscient. This impression is at least in part a function of the ex post facto character of most of the business hagiography and much of the literature linking leadership and organizational transformation: it seems almost inevitable after the event that the leader was going to succeed. He or she appears to have done all the right things at the time.
Consumer: King or Peasant? Organisational Change in the Banking Industry
Authors: Burton Dawn
Published: January 2008

The paper wishes to highlight the importance of consumers and consumer movements as an important dynamic of organisational change. This is an area of organisational analysis which has remained relatively underdeveloped but has the potential to greatly influence future developments in organisational theory. The paper will draw on material from the financial services sector, a group of industries which have not attracted a great deal of research interest.
The Role of the Mentor in Transforming the Organisation
Authors: Collin Audrey
Published: January 2008

This paper will argue that one explanation for the continuing interest in and application of mentoring programmes in organisations is that mentoring contributes significantly to the meaning‐making process within an organisation. Approaching the transformation of organisations from a social constructionist perspective, ‘the organisation’ is interpreted as a continuing process of organising; that is, a process of continuous and shared meaning‐making through interactions among organisational members. Responding to rapid and massive changes in the workplace, organisations are constructed and reconstructed through the development of new and appropriate meanings: mentoring is being harnessed in formal programmes to facilitate the ongoing meaning‐making process.
Discovering Corporate Culture: The Ethnography of a Library Merger
Authors: Davies Annette , Kirkpatrick Ian , Oliver Nick
Published: January 2008

This paper will investigate some of the theoretical and methodological problems associated with the way ‘culture’ is defined and studied in organizational settings. In short we raise the fundamental question of how culture is understood and explained, i.e., how does one actually ‘discover’ the culture of an organization? The paper will consider these issues in the context of research conducted by the authors on organizational mergers in which culture is defined as a network of communication rules/norms.
Transforming the Health Service: A Prescription for Health Gain?
Authors: Dawson Sandra , Winstanley Diana , Mole Veronica
Published: January 2008

This paper draws on primary research from two sources. First a major research project begun December 1991 on ‘Senior Managerial Competencies, Succession Planning and Organisation Development in the NHS’. The research aims to identify possible competence gaps between competences demonstrated and competences required in the light of restructuring the National Health Service. It therefore examines management development and organisation development in parallel at the strategic and operational levels. This is a two year project funded by the Department of Health. The second source is other research being undertaken within the new ‘Public Service Strategy and Organisation Group’ based at the Management School, Imperial College. Although the group are researching a variety of public sector organisations, including local authorities and education, this research paper focuses on the restructuring taking place in the health service.
Organisational Culture, Politics and Ideology: Understanding Customer Care
Authors: Harrison Eric , Marchington Mick
Published: January 2008

In recent years an increasing number of organisations in the service sector have sought to market themselves on the basis, not merely of value for money, but also on the standard of service they give to the customer. The notion of “customer care” originated in the airline industry, but has since spread throughout retailing, financial services, and has increasingly been pressed upon public service organisation such as local authorities, schools and hospitals. In many cases, the introduction of customer care is felt to require a change in the way the organisation operates, and there is much talk about the need to change the culture of organisations.
Death of a Snake‐Oil Salesman. The Demise of the Corporate Life‐Cycle
Authors: Höpfl Heather
Published: January 2008

The title of this paper comes from Arthur Miller's play “Death of a Salesman” and from a comment made to me by a colleague at a management development event for a major UK company, “Oh God Heather, not another snake oil salesman”: a reference to the patent medicine for cultural transformation which was being offered. (“Snake‐oil salesman” is an America term for a peddler of medicinal remedies with no therapeutic value other than the psychosomatic).
Introducing Strategic Change to a Hospital: A Case Study
Authors: McChesney R. , Carswell L , Connolly M. , Erridge A. , McAlister D.
Published: January 2008

This paper reports on the introduction of major change into a large group of hospitals. While the study acknowledges the need to cater for technological, structural and personnel aspects during the change process it concentrates on the human element. This is because it is the least predictable, and arguably the most critical, factor involved ‐ particularly in a hospital setting where key actors are subject to the potentially opposing pulls of organisational and professional membership.
Models of Organisational Transformation in the Public Sector
Authors: Nutley Sandra
Published: January 2008

Much of the research on the theory and practice of organisational transformation has been conducted in private sector organisations. The public sector, particularly in Britain, has by contrast received scant attention. This paper contributes towards remedying this gap by reporting on research conducted into organisational transformation within one British local authority. This research considers how the whole organisation of the local authority developed and changed over a 13 year period (1974–1987). It also provides detailed case studies of change in the areas of housing decentralisation and community development.
Dust Shaken out of a Book into an Empty Skull? Higher Education Culture in Britain and Canada
Authors: Stiles David
Published: January 2008

This paper represents a unique methodology — developed, piloted and successfully applied in Business Schools on both sides of the Atlantic. Using a methodology integrating conceptual developments in strategy implementation, organisational behaviour, social psychology and political sociology; innovative techniques have combined quantitative methods, projective exercises, ethnography and discourse analysis in a case study situation. Initial findings from the project are used to illustrate the application of the methodology.
Moving the Goal Posts? Organisational Transformation and Continuous Quality Improvement at BAe (Military Aircraft Division)
Authors: Tuckman Alan
Published: January 2008

This paper examines the changes currently occurring at a BAe plant. Recently they have seen a shift of emphasis on the production of military aircraft, away from their main customer — the British Ministry of Defence — towards export markets with greater emphasis also being put on subcontract work carried out for other BAe Divisions. Especially within the context of industrial recession, severely aggravated by international decline in military spending with the end of the cold war, and a perceived threat from Asian producers — some of whom are currently key customers — they have moved into introducing a range of new organisational and management strategies which could amount to an attempt at ‘Japanization’. Employees, especially at management level, talk of ‘initiative shock’ while attempting to cope with the current introduction of Activity Based Costing (ABC), Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI), JIT, the replacement of existing standards with ISO 9000, new computer systems and attempts at standardising procedures across the Division, Management and Supervisors being forced into applying for restructured jobs after taking psychometric tests, as well as recent redundancies which will mean a loss of about ten percent of staff.
Micro‐Multi and Mobile‐Mini: Observations on Initial Findings from Research into Small, High Technology Firms
Authors: Ackroyd Stephen
Published: January 2008

This paper reports some of the findings from a cross‐national study of small, high‐technology firms. It sets out some of the background to the work, describing methods as well as results. The main contribution of the paper, however, will be to discuss some of the organisational forms encountered in the research and to speculate about the implications of these findings in terms of current debates concerning socio‐economic change, especially to connect debate about organisational structure (flexibility, decentredness) with ideas concerning inter‐organisational structures (networks), and the relationship of these to regional and national economic development. Data collection is still proceeding.
Privatisation in Czechoslovakia — A Case Study in Organisational Transformation during Social Change
Authors: Clark Ed , Soulsby Anna
Published: January 2008

Our aim is to be as current as possible. What follows is a very broad overview of the ideas and intentions of the proposed paper, rather than a precis of a paper already prepared. We indicate the research background of the paper, allude to the principles of the theoretical framework we are developing, and describe the nature of the intensive case study that is to be carried out in Czechoslovakia in April 1992.