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Articles 1 - 15 of 15
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
A Call To Leadership: The Awakening, Robin A. Roberts
A Call To Leadership: The Awakening, Robin A. Roberts
Robin A. Roberts
A presentation given to student leaders at Bethune-Cookman University highlighting the transition from student to young professional.
Tariffs, Subsidies, And Profits: A Re-Assessment Of Structural Change In Australia 1901–39, David Merrett, Simon Ville
Tariffs, Subsidies, And Profits: A Re-Assessment Of Structural Change In Australia 1901–39, David Merrett, Simon Ville
Simon Ville
We re-interpret the drivers of structural change in Australia from Federation to World War II. Manufacturing increased its relative share of output and employment, the farm sector and mining contracted. Conventional wisdom contends these shifts largely resulted from government policy, particularly increases in trade barriers. We contend that the connection between tariffs and increased profitability is conceptually weak and not supported by extant evidence. We argue that exogenous shifts in consumer preferences, the adoption of new technologies, changing factor proportions, and greater specialisation in manufacturing and services were responsible for manufacturing increasing its share of the economy's resources and output.
Business Profitability And Structural Change In Interwar Australia, Simon Ville, David Merrett
Business Profitability And Structural Change In Interwar Australia, Simon Ville, David Merrett
Simon Ville
The Australian economy of the interwar period experienced noteworthy cyclical and secular trends. Severe cyclical fluctuations were associated with the international depression, often referred to as the ‘Great Slump’, which particularly afflicted Australia’s large traded sector, especially its cornerstone primary exporting industries. In the midst of this apparent dearth, however, came the ‘plenty’ of the initial stages of modernisation, which resulted from the broadening of the country’s economic base into new manufacturing industries. The general trends of economic activity are captured by national income data, while the expansion of particular industries has been contextualised by several authors, most notably Forster …
An Activity Theory Analysis Of A Case Of It-Driven Organisational Change, Wannapa Suratmethakul, Helen Hasan
An Activity Theory Analysis Of A Case Of It-Driven Organisational Change, Wannapa Suratmethakul, Helen Hasan
Helen Hasan
The paper describes unexpected problems encountered in the automation of a scheduling process using an IT application already in use in other similar organisations. A grounded theory approach was used to collect and categorise data on the case. Activity Theory was then used to analyse the attempt by management to implement organisational change through the introduction of the system. The findings suggest that it is inadvisable to impose organisational change through the introduction of a complex IT system, particularly when this disrupts entrenched decision-making processes of the organisation.
Coaching For Personal Innovation: The Role Of Intuition, Connie I. Reimers-Hild
Coaching For Personal Innovation: The Role Of Intuition, Connie I. Reimers-Hild
Connie I Reimers-Hild, PhD, CPC
Innovation has become essential to survival and success in the 21st Century. Globalization combined with the rapid rate of change and explosive population growth have created a need for entrepreneurial activity, both inside and outside of new venture creation, that leads to continuous innovation while considering social and environmental impacts. Entrepreneurs are needed to establish new ventures and to employ others while developing new products, services and solutions. Entrepreneurial individuals, who may or may not start a business, are needed because they are innovators who behave or act in a proactive manner and move organizations forward. Many different structures, policies …
Choice And Context In Studying Change, Creativity And Innovation At Work: Call Off The Search For Excellence, Question Combinational Perspectives, And Loosen The Straightjacket Of Polarised Views, Patrick M. Dawson
Patrick Dawson
This article draws attention to debates on studying change, creativity and innovation at work. Attention is given to 'stable' and 'process' views of organizations and how these positions influence research objectives, methodological approach and findings. The paper is critical of those who seek to hold to a superior position - a one best approach for all; as well as those who seek the best from all worlds - a combinational approach that services both quantitative and qualitative research. In drawing on over 25 years of field research on change management, the paper also seeks to explore the broken links between …
Innovative Workplace Change: Social Well-Being And Health, Patrick M. Dawson, Michael Zanko
Innovative Workplace Change: Social Well-Being And Health, Patrick M. Dawson, Michael Zanko
Michael Zanko
Since the industrial revolution a chief concern of business organizations has been how best to organise work to maximise productivity and minimise costs. Securing and maintaining competitive advantage through new methods of work organization and systems of operation have largely centred around commercial and financial concerns rather than on the well-being of employees. Issues of occupational health and safety (OHS) have arisen in a range of working environments and legislative change has sought to ensure that safe and secure working conditions are a mandatory requirement of modern business. However, implementation of these mandates generally rests with management and whilst procedural …
Designer Deviance: Enterprise And Deviance In Cultural Change Programs, R Badham, Karin Garrety, V. Morrigan, M. Zanko, Patrick Dawson
Designer Deviance: Enterprise And Deviance In Cultural Change Programs, R Badham, Karin Garrety, V. Morrigan, M. Zanko, Patrick Dawson
Michael Zanko
This article explores the value of investigating cultural change programmes as exercises in engineering deviance. It does so through a case study of an organizational development cultural change programme at Sprogwheels, a large Australian corporation. Drawing on and extending the classic work of Becker (1966), the article details how the programme combined a moral crusade against what it sought to have labelled as the ‘deviant conservatism’ of the existing organizational culture with social support for ‘deviant radicalism’, in the form of a counter-cultural, self-enterprising set of middle managers promoting corporate change. The article explores the complex and contradictory ideas of …
Working At The Coalface: Being A Miner In Times Of Change, Peter D. Mclean, Patrick M. Dawson
Working At The Coalface: Being A Miner In Times Of Change, Peter D. Mclean, Patrick M. Dawson
Peter McLean
A case study analysis of the introduction of a new system for appraising worker performance in an Australian coal mine is used to explore the related concepts of identity and culture that are central to explaining individual and group behaviour in organizational context (Irrmann, 2002: 164). The change initiative was initiated by management following a search and evaluation of the general business environment to see what other organizations were doing to improve their operations. There was no prior consultation with employees, nor were any attempts made to involve mine workers before implementing what management described as a more ‘scientific’ and …
Changing Manufacturing Practices: An Appraisal Of The Processual Approach, Patrick M. Dawson
Changing Manufacturing Practices: An Appraisal Of The Processual Approach, Patrick M. Dawson
Patrick Dawson
There has been a longstanding interest in human factors and the processes of change in manufacturing organizations. This paper focuses attention on the establishment and contribution of a processual perspective to understanding change. A history of the processual approach is outlined and some of the main defining elements and ongoing developments are appraised. Field data drawn from a study of cellular work arrangements at a mirror manufacturing plant is used to highlight the interlocking and overlapping dynamics between substance, context, and politics. In advocating the benefits of a processual perspective, it is argued that during the uptake of cellular manufacturing …
Social Innovation, Sustainable Futures And Commercial Concerns: People, Profits And Social Well-Being, Patrick M. Dawson, L. Daniel
Social Innovation, Sustainable Futures And Commercial Concerns: People, Profits And Social Well-Being, Patrick M. Dawson, L. Daniel
Patrick Dawson
This paper draws attention to the growing interest in social innovations as they seek to improve the well being of people, communities and society. Social innovations are recognised as the development of new concepts, strategies and tools that support individuals and groups to achieve improved well-being. We examine here the growing interest in social innovation before turning our attention to more theoretical and conceptual concerns. We examine the link between the social and technical dimensions of innovation and identify how the scope of our definition is important in delineating our phenomena of interest. Some of the earlier academic work on …
The Way It Really Happened: Competing Narratives In The Political Process Of Technological Change, Patrick M. Dawson, D. Buchanan
The Way It Really Happened: Competing Narratives In The Political Process Of Technological Change, Patrick M. Dawson, D. Buchanan
Patrick Dawson
Corporate narratives concerning technological change are often constructed around a linear series of events that show the organization in a positive light to internal and external observers. These narratives often sanitize the change process, and present data from which commentators can formulate neat linear prescriptions on how to implement new technology. In contrast, this paper draws on processual-contextual theoretical perspectives to argue that technological change is a more complex political process represented by multiple ongoing narratives which compete with each other for dominance as definitive change accounts. A central aim of this paper, therefore, is to demonstrate the analytical significance …
Designer Deviance: Enterprise And Deviance In Cultural Change Programs, R Badham, Karin Garrety, V. Morrigan, M. Zanko, Patrick Dawson
Designer Deviance: Enterprise And Deviance In Cultural Change Programs, R Badham, Karin Garrety, V. Morrigan, M. Zanko, Patrick Dawson
Patrick Dawson
This article explores the value of investigating cultural change programmes as exercises in engineering deviance. It does so through a case study of an organizational development cultural change programme at Sprogwheels, a large Australian corporation. Drawing on and extending the classic work of Becker (1966), the article details how the programme combined a moral crusade against what it sought to have labelled as the ‘deviant conservatism’ of the existing organizational culture with social support for ‘deviant radicalism’, in the form of a counter-cultural, self-enterprising set of middle managers promoting corporate change. The article explores the complex and contradictory ideas of …
Working At The Coalface: Being A Miner In Times Of Change, Peter D. Mclean, Patrick M. Dawson
Working At The Coalface: Being A Miner In Times Of Change, Peter D. Mclean, Patrick M. Dawson
Patrick Dawson
A case study analysis of the introduction of a new system for appraising worker performance in an Australian coal mine is used to explore the related concepts of identity and culture that are central to explaining individual and group behaviour in organizational context (Irrmann, 2002: 164). The change initiative was initiated by management following a search and evaluation of the general business environment to see what other organizations were doing to improve their operations. There was no prior consultation with employees, nor were any attempts made to involve mine workers before implementing what management described as a more ‘scientific’ and …
Managing Organizational Change: Leadership, Tesco, And Leahy's Resignatio, Uzoechi Nwagbara
Managing Organizational Change: Leadership, Tesco, And Leahy's Resignatio, Uzoechi Nwagbara
Dr Uzoechi Nwagbara
The central issues here are the consequences and the impacts of the announcement of the resignation of Sir Terry Leahy, the CEO of Tesco, from the organisation in March 2011. The announcement on the 8 th of June 2010 that Leahy, Tesco’s chief executive officer and one of Britain’s most respected businessmen, would be retiring after transforming the organisation into the world’s third biggest retailer, has generated a groundswell of reactions. The impact of this change, as well as how to manage the change resulting from his resignation is part of the concern of this report. Another concern of this …