bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
High Court considers Icelandic bank's challenge to HM Treasury's use of emergency powers during 2008
Authors: Gray Joanna 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report and comment on the High Court ruling on Icelandic bank's challenge to HM Treasury's use of emergency powers during 2008.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the facts surrounding the case and comments on the decision.FindingsThe High Court disagreed that the claimant's view of events accorded with the way the treasury in fact acted.Originality/valueThis appeal shows how two very differently motivated, yet equally well‐intentioned, regulatory regimes can come into conflict.
The impact of learning culture on worker response to new technology
Authors: Reardon Robert F. 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to provide a framework to measure the response of blue‐collar workers to new technology in manufacturing and to establish the relationship between learning culture and that response.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected with a survey questionnaire from 12 manufacturing sites that were implementing a number of diverse new technologies. The dimensions of worker response were identified with exploratory factor analysis and the relationship between these factors and learning culture was established with path analysis.FindingsFactor analysis identified seven dimensions of worker response: disgruntlement, job‐security concerns, accommodation, informal learning, resistance, discussion, and formal learning. Learning culture had a large, statistically significant relationship with disgruntlement and medium, statistically significant relationships with job‐security concerns, accommodation, informal learning, and formal learning.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample was limited to manufacturing locations in the southeastern USA and the respondents were almost all male and either White or African‐American.Practical implicationsThese findings establish a strong positive relationship between learning culture and behavioral, affective and cognitive responses of workers to new technology. This is key for supporting learning culture in organizations that naturally are inclined to worker isolation and independence.Originality/valueEmpirical work of this nature is limited in manufacturing facilities. These organizations tend to be closed to research because of concerns regarding the security of proprietary information or the personal safety of the researcher.
Examining beginning teachers' perceptions of workplace support
Authors: Fox Alison , Deaney Rosemary , Wilson Elaine 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThis paper, taking a participatory perspective of learning, seeks to look at the interaction between individuals and their workplace, focusing on the perceptions of workplaces and self by beginning teachers in terms of support for their learning.Design/methodology/approachThe study presents an analysis of 37 interviews from 17 beginning teachers across 18 workplaces. Analysis used an adapted version of Evans and colleagues' expansive‐restrictive framework for evaluating workplaces, focusing on relational aspects. A matrix of congruence between individuals and their workplace is presented, highlighting the significance of personal networking.FindingsAlthough beginning teachers concluded that their workplaces were largely expansive, they also identified concerns regarding perceptions of support availability. Formal and informal support was recognized and the significance of outside school support, such as through the University Faculty, was noted even for teachers in post. Good “matches”, differential engagement with the same workplace and similar agency in different workplaces were identified.Practical implicationsThe matrix of congruence is offered as a tool to researchers and teacher educators interested in understanding how support is experienced by novice professionals. The study highlights the utility of taking a personal network perspective to conceiving workplaces as not necessarily bounded by locality or normative practices. This could offer opportunities for discourse leading to greater engagement by professionals in their own learning.Originality/valueThe paper responds to calls that personal‐social processes in the workplace need further attention. The consideration of network perspectives, attending to informal aspects of social engagement, offers new understandings.
Effects of leadership style on team learning
Authors: Bucic Tania , Robinson Linda , Ramburuth Prem 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThis paper seeks to explore the effect of leadership style of a team leader on team‐member learning in organizations, to conceptually extend an initial model of leadership and to empirically examine the new model of ambidextrous leadership in a team context.Design/methodology/approachQualitative research utilizing the case study method is used for empirical validation.FindingsThe leadership style (transformational, transactional, or ambidextrous) adopted by the team leader has an operational effect on the development of learning as a strategic resource within the team, and the organization.Research limitations/implicationsCase studies can be criticized for potential lack of rigour. However, we have used multiple cases following replication logic and triangulation to offset this. Further, cases by nature are generalizable to propositions only, not populations. Thus, a valuable springboard is provided for further quantitative investigations.Practical implicationsThe leadership style adopted by the team leader affects team cohesion, perceptions of learning, and learning‐related performance within the team. The findings provide a rationale for greater emphasis on the role, behavior and leading style that are adopted by the leader in order to produce desired team‐level outcomes.Originality/valueThe paper provides much needed extension and empirical validation of the initial model of ambidextrous leadership. The results show that the leader does have an effect on the team, and also that the leader's leadership style is critical to team level learning and related performance. This is valuable knowledge for trainers, recruiters, teams and leaders.
The reality of human resource management in Central and Eastern Europe
Authors: Brewster Chris , Morley Michael , Bučiūnienė Ilona 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce and contextualize this special issue of theBaltic Journal of Managementand provide a route map for the reader through the various contributions.Design/methodology/approachThis overarching paper contextualizes the theme and introduces the selected papers.FindingsThe findings call attention to the unique practice and research environment that is Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and highlight the varying trajectories of these economies during the post‐socialist transition.Research limitations/implicationsThe evidence points to a dearth of research on contemporary management practice in CEE and suggests this research context to be an important test bed for the spread and institutionalisation of international practice.Originality/valueCombined the papers explore aspects of the landscape of human resource management in contemporary CEE and showcase international theoretical and empirical work focused on this region.
The extended business case for childcare and leave arrangements in Western and Eastern Europe
Authors: den Dulk Laura , Peters Pascale , Poutsma Erik , Ligthart Paul E.M. 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose an “extended conceptualization of the business case” including both organizational characteristics and institutional conditions to analyse employer involvement in extra statutory childcare and leave arrangements. Special attention is given to Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries.Design/methodology/approachThe (multi‐level) multinomial regression analyses included company‐level data on human‐resource practices of 2,865 firms nested in 19 countries, representing all European welfare state regimes.FindingsThe extended business case appeared fruitful in order to explain variations in employer involvement. Particularly, state support was found to be negatively related to employer involvement. In the liberal regime, employer involvement was high, but variations across organizations were significant. In CEE‐countries, employer involvement was lowest, and did not vary by organizational business‐case factors.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper used data from a cross‐sectional survey. To capture the long‐term trends, dynamics and nuances in employer involvement within and across various institutional contexts, a longitudinal in depth study is needed.Practical implicationsWhile state support in many CEE countries is declining, the analyses showed that employers will not automatically step in by providing additional work‐family arrangements. Social partners could use institutional pressure to stimulate a balance between state support and employer involvement.Originality/valueThe extended business‐case perspective contributes to the theory on the institutional embeddedness of decision making of employers. Moreover, it adds to the knowledge on employer involvement in institutional contexts which have hardly been studied before.
Building organizational trust in a low‐trust societal context
Authors: Pučėtaitė Raminta , Lämsä Anna‐Maija , Novelskaitė Aurelija 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to explore the interrelations between organizational trust and ethics management tools as well as ethical organizational practices in a post‐socialist context.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework of the interrelations among organizational trust, ethics management tools and ethical organizational practices is reasoned and the interrelations among the variables are explored using quantitative methods of data analysis. The method of data gathering is a questionnaire survey that was carried out in Lithuania which is taken as an example of a post‐socialist society where trust is rather low. In total, answers from 519 respondents were collected.FindingsThe empirical findings confirm the interdependence of the variables. A significant dependence of organizational trust on ethical organizational practices has been established.Research limitations/implicationsThe research findings imply that ethics management tools just weakly predict emergence of organizational trust in the organizations operating in a post‐socialist context. Rather, organizational practices which integrate ethical principles are considerably more important to building organizational trust. This is a peculiarity of a post‐socialist context where people were used to the relativity of the declared values and ideas, therefore, tend to search for evidence of value realization in practice. However, since post‐socialist societies differ in their socio‐historical past, this claim is not a generalization.Practical implicationsThe paper provides managerial implications how to advance organizational trust in a post‐socialist context.Originality/valueThe research paper provides empirical evidence on the interrelations among organizational trust, ethics management tools and ethical organizational practices, which is scarce in the existing literature on organizational trust. In particular, neither the interrelation between ethics management tools and organizational trust nor a combined effect of ethics management tools and ethical organizational practices on organizational trust has been empirically tested. Thus, the paper fills in this gap in the related literature.
HR function developments in Lithuania
Authors: Kazlauskaitė Rūta , Bučiūnienė Ilona 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of past and current developments in human resource (HR) function in Lithuania.Design/methodology/approachThe paper discusses the antecedents of HR function developments in Lithuania through an analysis of the country's demographic, economic, legal and cultural environments and historical human resource management (HRM) developments. Current HR function status is shown through findings of an HR manager/specialist survey conducted at 119 medium‐ and large‐sized organisations, which was part of the 2008‐2009 Cranet survey.FindingsThe majority of organisations have HRM departments and an HR strategy, and in about half HR is represented on the board and is involved to some extent in business strategy development. HR responsibility is shared by line management and HR function. About 90 per cent of organisations have a mission statement and a business strategy. Trade union power is currently low due to historic and political reasons; however, findings show that it is gaining more status. About half of the organisations have developed corporate social responsibility policies, though few offer non‐statutory social welfare schemes. Reward individualisation is higher among private‐sector employers. Downward communication is used to a considerable extent by both private and public organisations, while upward communication is more extensively practised by private‐sector organisations.Practical implicationsThe paper discloses current HR function developments in Lithuania based on its historical heritage, antecedents in macro/micro environments and empirical data, which provide valuable insights for local organisations and foreign investors into current HRM status.Originality/valueThe paper discloses the influences on HR function developments and their current status in Lithuania, which are still under‐researched in the country, and contributes to HRM research in the Central and East Europe region.
Public sector HRM: the case of no central human resource strategy
Authors: Järvalt Jane , Randma‐Liiv Tiina 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to outline and analyse the limitations and opportunities of decentralised human resource management (HRM) in the public sector.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on a case study of the Estonian Central Government.FindingsIt is demonstrated that the absence of a central human resource strategy, combined with fragmentation, insufficient coordination and a lack of common values throughout the public service as well as with other limitations related to the country's post‐communist legacy has hindered a systematic approach to public service HRM. However, the paper also reveals that a decentralised setup of HRM has enabled Estonia to flexibly conduct major reforms on the organisational level during the transition of the 1990s and in the following Europeanisation period.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the case study method limits the extent to which findings of the study may be generalised to other countries and settings, there are still several lessons to be learned from the Estonian case of no central HR strategy.Practical implicationsThe practical recommendations are related to the applicability of the strategic HRM model, path dependency of the development of HRM and the strategic fit between a country's HRM model and the wider context in which it is applied.Originality/valueThe paper provides a new look to the macro‐level HR policies and to the institutional setup of central HR coordination in the context of fast reforms.
Enhancing informal learning to improve job satisfaction
Authors: Alonderienė Raimonda 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe paper aims to analyze the relationship between managers' informal learning and their job satisfaction in Lithuanian small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approachThe methodology of the survey has been developed in respect to the ideas on informal learning and job satisfaction. The questionnaire on informal learning factors was developed by the author. Also, the adapted Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire was used. A representative sample of 173 SMEs managers in Lithuania was surveyed.FindingsThe paper reveals the relationship between managers' informal learning and their job satisfaction in Lithuanian SMEs. Informal learning factors not only correlate with but also have an impact on job satisfaction. The survey findings correspond to similar surveys carried out in other countries.Research limitations/implicationsThe research could be replicated in large organizations as well as in other countries to confirm or deny the relations established in this survey.Practical implicationsUnderstanding and managing informal learning factors can help improve job satisfaction in Lithuanian SMEs.Originality/valueThe clarified concept of informal learning is presented. Also, the systematized set of informal learning factors is introduced and tested empirically.
Managerial narratives: a critical dialogical approach to managerial identity
Authors: McKenna Steve 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the use of a dialogical approach, associated with the Russian literary critic and philosopher Bakhtin, in understanding the portrayal of managerial identity in management narratives. In particular, it applies these ideas critically to understand how managers' identities are partly shaped by the dominant discourse or idea about what a manager should “be.”Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on three written narratives of managers. It applies a dialogical approach to consider how they position themselves interactionally in the narratives in such a way as to highlight a managerial identity based on being “enterprising” and “for change,” while simultaneously voicing alternative identities negatively. The use of the written narratives of managers and the application of a dialogical approach is an important contribution to the literature.FindingsThe findings suggest that managers, when reflecting on organizational events through narrative, assume a managerial identity that reflects current dominant discourse about what a manager should “be.” In doing so they reject other possible discourses that offer alternatives, not only to managerial “being,” but also to what management and organizations might reflect and represent. The paper also, however, recognizes that some managers reject this identity and its implications for organizational activity.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper suggests that managerial identity is partly a product of a dominant discursive/ideological formation rather than individual choice. Although managers may reject this interpellation creating an alternative is constrained by the regime of truth that prevails about what management is at any given time. The approach might be considered overly deterministic in its view of managerial identity.Originality/valueThe paper extends the understanding of managerial identity and how it is portrayed through narrative by using a dialogical approach to interpretation.
The diary project: revealing the gendered organisation
Authors: Plowman Penelope J. 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show how an application of the qualitative diary method reveals the gendered organisation.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on the author's experience of her own design and implementation of the diary method, using qualitative diaries, dialogues and interviews. The application is known as the “diary project” and is carried out in a case‐study organisation in which the researcher is addressing wider questions about gender, change and organisation.FindingsThe outcomes show how the diary project methodology is effective for learning about gender norms and practices embedded in organisational culture. Reflections on the interface between the personal and the professional, the formal and the informal, emotion, sexuality and power, hierarchies and difference, draw out significant organisational phenomena which shape advantage and disadvantage and unequal access and control.Research limitations/implicationsThe diary project methodology is about the organisation in the present. To study gender embedded in the organisation requires the organisational researcher to also work with other research methods, to achieve a deep understanding.Practical implicationsThe experience of the diary project is that it offers organisational researchers and change practitioners a methodology for study and intervention.Originality/valueThe paper is of use to readers looking for a participatory organisational research methodology to examine the gendered organisation. Findings highlight the value of the diary project methodology for a deep analysis of organisation.
Reflexivity: recursion and relationality in organizational research processes
Authors: Hibbert Paul , Coupland Christine , MacIntosh Robert 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe paper seeks to support a better understanding of the types (or processes) of reflexivity which may be involved in the practice of organizational research, and the implications of reflexive practice for organizational researchers.Design/methodology/approachA characterization of reflexivity as a process is developed from extant research, in four steps. First, the principal dimensions of reflexivity – reflection and recursion – are identified and delineated. Second, recursion is shown to have two modes, active and passive. Third, reflection is shown to have both closed, self‐guided and open, relational modes. Fourth, through integrating the detailed characterizations of each of the dimensions, different types of reflexivity are identified and defined.FindingsThe paper shows how different types of reflexivity may be experienced sequentially, as a progressive process, by organizational researchers. Implications for research practice are derived from a consideration of this process.Originality/valueThe paper develops a novel conceptualization of reflexivity as a process with individual and relational aspects. This conceptualization supports important insights for the conduct and legitimation of reflexive research.
Exploring inner landscapes through psychophenomenology
Authors: Tosey Paul , Mathison Jane 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore a contemporary European development in research into first person accounts of experience, called psychophenomenology, that offers enhancements to phenomenological interviewing. It is a form of guided introspection that seeks to develop finely grained first‐person accounts by using distinctions in language, internal sensory representations and imagery that have been incorporated from neuro‐linguistic programming (NLP). It is also a participative, relational and developmental form of interviewing, in the sense that the interviewee can gain significant insight into their experience; the process is not concerned purely with data gathering.Design/methodology/approachThe authors review the theoretical assumptions on which psychophenomenology is based, then describe the principal method used in psychophenomenology, the “explicitation interview”. The interview protocol is illustrated with transcript data, through which they identify specific aspects of NLP that have been incorporated into psychophenomenology.FindingsPsychophenomenology offers refinements to the precision of phenomenological methods found in organizational research, such as interpretative phenomenological analysis.Research limitations/implicationsThe epistemological claims and implications of psychophenomenology are reviewed.Practical implicationsThese developments may provide a basis for reconsidering the research value of introspection, which has often been dismissed as non‐rigorous.Originality/valueThe paper introduces psychophenomenology to the field of organizational research. It also describes how psychophenomenology has innovated by drawing from NLP, an approach to personal development that is found in organizational practices such as executive coaching, in order to enhance the precision and rigour of both interviews and transcript analysis.