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Full-Text Articles in Business
Rope Or Elephant’S Tail: Different Frames Of Culture, Vicki Fairbanks Taylor, Nathan Goates
Rope Or Elephant’S Tail: Different Frames Of Culture, Vicki Fairbanks Taylor, Nathan Goates
Organization Management Journal
Using data from participants at a single organization, we employed a three-perspective metatheory to move toward a more comprehensive description of organizational culture and examined how differing theoretical perspectives yield convergent, complementary, or contrary findings. Survey data (n = 124) combined with the results from 19 structured interviews indicated that employees shared consensus around some cultural values, but also suggested the existence of subcultures and general ambiguity around other cultural elements. That is, from an integrative perspective, there was clarity surrounding one set of values; from a differentiation perspective, subcultures existed; and from a fragmentation perspective, there was evidence of …
Three Stories—And A Writer’S Tale: A Creative Writing Case Study Of Workplace Bullying, Margaret H. Vickers
Three Stories—And A Writer’S Tale: A Creative Writing Case Study Of Workplace Bullying, Margaret H. Vickers
Organization Management Journal
I present a creative writing case study of workplace bullying using three stories: Story 1—The Writing Context contextualizes the case study’s development in an Australian higher education institution; Story 2—The Writing Process describes the creative writing process, including interpretation of public domain secondary empirical sources enmeshed with a writer’s imagination; and Story 3—The Writing Product presents a creative writing case study of workplace bullying. Interleaved with these three stories of context, process, and product are fragments of my more reflective and reflexive story—A Writer’s Tale—shared to assist reader understanding of some of the ambiguous, paradoxical, and pernicious outcomes of workplace …
James Michaels (A) And (B), Michael T. Stratton
James Michaels (A) And (B), Michael T. Stratton
Organization Management Journal
This two-part case describes a challenging and painful period for James Michaels, a young and openly gay assistant professor of computer science at a small Midwestern liberal arts college. To James’s surprise and disgust, a male student harasses him using a homophobic slur in an e-mail. The case chronicles not only the harassment incident, but also how college administrators and faculty colleagues handle this allegation. James soon finds himself in complete disappointment with the outcome and unsure how to proceed. He perceives that the college administrators, along with some of his colleagues, discount the severity of the harassment incident and …
Off The Rails: Understanding The Derailment Of A Lean Manufacturing Initiative, Elizabeth F. Turesky, Patrick Connell
Off The Rails: Understanding The Derailment Of A Lean Manufacturing Initiative, Elizabeth F. Turesky, Patrick Connell
Organization Management Journal
This study focuses on why lean manufacturing change initiatives at a Northern New England company failed to produce sustained results. Consultants and leaders share responsibility for the sustainability of the change initiatives they undertake. Rationally, neither party would undertake a change initiative with the intent to fail, yet clearly, even highly structured and well-tested initiatives often do fail (derail) in practice. This research used an observational methodology to uncover answers to the question, “what are the key factors that can cause the derailment of a well-intended, highly-structured change initiative?” In addition to consistency with findings from other studies on sustaining …
Doing More With Less At Ariens: A Leadership And Transformation Case Study, Jennifer K. Hartwell, George Roth
Doing More With Less At Ariens: A Leadership And Transformation Case Study, Jennifer K. Hartwell, George Roth
Organization Management Journal
Ariens is a family-owned manufacturer of lawn and snow equipment that designs, manufactures, sells, distributes, and supports its products in the United States, and more recently, internationally. Ariens faced and overcame a number of difficult challenges over the last decade by adopting and sustaining lean production principles throughout the organization, as well as with its suppliers and customers. This case study describes earlier business challenges, the changes that were made, how they were led, and the response of the workforce. The case study focuses on the period from 1998 to 2005, and a post-script updates what has happened up through …
Employee Empowerment, Action Research And Organizational Change: A Case Study, Victor Wooddell
Employee Empowerment, Action Research And Organizational Change: A Case Study, Victor Wooddell
Organization Management Journal
This article summarizes the results of a project designed and implemented by a cross-sectional design team of employees of a local government agency. We compare the project design to criteria associated with employee empowerment programs and action research models. Finally, we compare the outcomes of the project with important components of employee empowerment. The purpose of this article is to highlight how one such project was implemented in a field setting, and review what was learned by the participants regarding how management and employees can work more effectively together on issues of strategic importance to the organization. Both the process …
Aquarius Advertising Revisited: A Case Becomes An Experience, Kristen Backhaus
Aquarius Advertising Revisited: A Case Becomes An Experience, Kristen Backhaus
Organization Management Journal
This experiential exercise is based on a traditional organization theory case related to structural contingency theory. The exercise provides a means by which students can play the role of advertising agency professionals and their clients. The objectives of the exercise are to demonstrate structural contingency theory; to illustrate the relationship between contextual factors in an organization’s environment and its internal organization design; to demonstrate the effects of structural deficiency on communication and project completion in a creative organization; and to demonstrate the need for horizontal linkages for effective project completion. The exercise is appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate students.
Liening On Dhr Construction, Llc, Herbert Sherman, Daniel James Rowley
Liening On Dhr Construction, Llc, Herbert Sherman, Daniel James Rowley
Organization Management Journal
This case describes the attempts of a small residential construction company to close on a home that they have built. The problem for the characters in question is how to proceed in this situation given the fact that a third party lien has been put against their properties because the developer they bought the properties from had not paid his landscaper. The case has a difficulty level appropriate for a freshmen and/or sophomore level course. The case is designed to be taught in one to two class periods based upon the authors’ prior experiences in teaching this case. Instructional time …
Liening On Dhr Construction, Llc, Herbert Sherman, Daniel James Rowley
Liening On Dhr Construction, Llc, Herbert Sherman, Daniel James Rowley
Organization Management Journal
This case describes the attempts of a small residential construction company to close on a home that they have built. The problem for the characters in question is how to proceed in this situation given the fact that a third party lien has been put against their properties because the developer they bought the properties from had not paid his landscaper. The case has a difficulty level appropriate for a freshmen and/or sophomore level course. The case is designed to be taught in one to two class periods based upon the authors’ prior experiences in teaching this case. Instructional time …