Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Pain Of (Organisational) Change, Philomena Hanlon

Conference papers

Abstract

Ireland is the third most globalised nation in the world - Ernest and Young 2013 report

This reflective paper addresses key drivers of organisational change (including globalisation as referred to in the quote above) and what this means at the level of the organisation and at the level of the Lacanian subject[1] (individual employee). It looks at strategies organisations are adopting to survive in a hyper competitive environment and how these strategies are interpreted / responded to by the subject. The paper utilises a Freudian / Lacanian lens to interrogate subjective responses to organisational change. For some subjects …

Conference Presentation: The Power Of Words In Tension: Enterprise/Strategy As A Dilemma In Neoliberalism’S Persistence., Brendan O'Rourke

Conference papers

We address how enterprise is related to, another important discourse, strategy. From a discourse analysis of the talk of small firm owner-managers, emerges a view of strategy and enterprise as a single, integrated entity, bound together by some commonalities but more importantly by paired opposites reminiscent of ideological dilemmas (Billig, Condor, Edwards, Gane, Middleton & Radley, 1988). This dilemmatic nature of enterprise/strategy discourse adds to explanations for the persistence of the neoliberal form of enterprise, with the entrepreneur as the heroic saviour of all, based on the entrepreneur as an empty signifier (Jones & Spicer, 2009; Kenny & …

The Effect Of Sensor Errors In Situated Human-Computer Dialogue, Niels Schütte, John D. Kelleher, Brian Mac Namee

Conference papers

Errors in perception are a problem for computer systems that use sensors to perceive the environment. If a computer system is engaged in dialogue with a human user, these problems in perception lead to problems in the dialogue. We present two experiments, one in which participants interact through dialogue with a robot with perfect perception to fulfil a simple task, and a second one in which the robot is affected by sensor errors and compare the resulting dialogues to determine whether the sensor problems have an impact on dialogue success.

Exploring Economists & Society: Constructing Expert Identity, Joseph Fitzgerald, Brendan O'Rourke

Conference papers

The recent economic crisis has created a heightened interest in economics and greater demand for economics experts. The media has played an important role in meeting this demand as mediated expertise is relied upon to understand the complex relationships within society (Albaek, Christiansen and Togeby 2003; Beck 1992; Boyce 2006; Giddens 1990). Such interactions of experts with media are a key element of the knowledge flows within society (Sturdy et al. 2009) and so have attracted research attention (Ekstrom and Lundell 2011; Hutchby 2006; Montgomery 2008). This paper contributes to this literature by focusing on the under-researched area of the …

The Vital Role Of Ideas In Industrial Policy Changes In Ireland During The 1980s, John Hogan, Brendan O'Rourke

Conference papers

Employing a discursive institutionalist approach in the form of the critical juncture theory (CJT), this paper examines the nature of the changes to Irish industrial policy in the mid 1980s, a time when the country went through one of its worst economic crises. Did these policy changes, ushered in by the Telesis Report of 1982, constitute a transformation in industrial policy, or a continuation of a previously established policy pathway, and if so why? To answer this question the paper explores the roles played by various change agents, and their ideas, in altering the industrial policy that had been established …

Institutionalizing Industrial Development: The Cases Of Ireland And Taiwan, Paul Donnelly

Conference papers

Both Ireland and Taiwan are considered to have experienced “economic miracles” that, ex ante, could not have been predicted when the two countries started along the road of industrial development in the late 1940s / early 1950s through to the end of the 1960s. Taking the view that industrial development does not appear as a ready formed institution, as an essence that always-already existed, what is of interest in this paper is the work of institutionalizing or institutionalization as an on-going process. Accordingly, and through the lens of actor-network theory (ANT), the paper follows how both countries structured/organized themselves to …

Mirrors: 'Bleeding' The Creation Of Alternative Organization Through A Liberating Ideology Of Transformative Humanism, Alia Weston, J. Miguel Imas, Paul Donnelly

Conference papers

In this paper, we propose a new way of explaining the everyday practices of communities who socially organize to create sustainable grass-roots engagement. We discuss how this collective engagement is based on principles and values of socio-economic engagement that are fundamentally different to those associated with capitalism. We theorise that these community engagements are sustained by an organizational ideology of 'transformative humanism' that is founded on an ongoing struggle for emancipation. Our perspective is constructed through a combination of Frantz Fanon's ideas on humanism, Manfred Max-Neef's barefoot economics, and Paulo Freire's pedagogies of hope and transformation. We suggest that movements …

An Indigenous Women Perspective Of Work And Organisation: The Maya Way, Jennifer Manning, J. Miguel Imas, Paul Donnelly

Conference papers

Western literature in management/organisation studies focuses primarily on gender issues that affect inequalities experienced by women at work. Adopting, in some cases, critical and feminist theoretical positions, the gender debate unfolds questions on the prevailing male discourse that is dominant in management and business organisations. Most of these theoretical assumptions tend to influence, subsequently, the way in which we understand the experiences of women in the developing or under-developed world. That is, these theoretical positions occupy a privileged voice upon which to write, describe and analyse the experiences of women in contexts where these Western discourses seem either alien or …

Are Your Cellars Safe?, James Peter Murphy

Conference papers

Bar owners have to be more concerned about health, safety and security issues. This is the result of a variety of factors, most notably recent legislative changes at national and international level and the subsequent high costs of accidents (including costs relating to litigation and compensation). Poor health, safety and security standards place staff members and customers at risk of serious injury if not death; employers suffer in terms of lost productivity and potentially higher premiums’ and the morale of the staff, as well as the industrial relations climate in the bar, can be adversely affected. At a minimum, bar …

Managing The Responsible Service Of Alcohol: Are We Meeting Our Obligations?, James Peter Murphy

Conference papers

Recent research studies indicate that customers and individuals are drinking no more than their parents were drinking 15 years ago but the frequency, strength of drinks, and amount of drinks consumed per session has increased. These irrational drinking patterns have created a binge drinking culture. Bar staff and management have the task of serving and dealing with all types of people from all walks of life and status of society, this is an enjoyable and rewarding part of the job. However there are many occasions when they have to deal with people who may well have on occasion for various …

Performing Collaborative Creativity: Learning From Diverse Experts Interacting In Ireland’S Science Gallery, Diane Tangney, Olivia Freeman, Brendan O'Rourke

Conference papers

This paper presents preliminary findings deriving from a larger project investigating the performance of collaborative creativity and is primarily concerned with describing the communication patterns of such performance. Interactions between different domain experts in Ireland’s Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin, were observed and recorded over the course of four months in 2011. The interactions have been loosely transcribed using the basic principles of CA. Preliminary findings include three observations. Firstly, creative performances involve a type of content we call ‘idea talk’. Secondly, performances of creative collaboration involve variance, not equality, in participation by individual experts. Variance in participation in group …

Situating Men Within Local Terrain: A Sociological Perspective On Consumption Practices, Deirdre Duffy

Conference papers

The aim of this paper is to explore how young men, operating within influential discursive regimes, construct their identity projects and come to know themselves, through their engagement with consumption and leisure practices. Foucauldian theory is drawn upon to conceptualise men as intertwined within their social environs, the recipients of socio-cultural inscription. By situating the micro-social context of the male consumer in a larger socio-cultural context, this study endeavours to go beyond consumer narratives to incorporate the influence of market and social systems on individuals’ identity work. The two discursive practices explored include: hometown community and Gaelic sport. Findings show …

The Gender Continuum: Analysing Constructions Of Masculinity Across The Situational Contexts Of Consumption And Leisure Practices, Deirdre Duffy

Conference papers

This paper draws upon Foucauldian theory and considers Eric Anderson's (2009) more recent inclusive masculinity theory to explore how young Irish men construct their masculine identities and come to know themselves through their engagement with consumption and leisure practices. Locating the subject within influential discursive regimes allows for the consideration of identity construction as interconnected with one’s lived existence in the social world. This paper focuses on two practices: national sport and fashionable self-presentation. My findings show how new patterns of power relationships gradually develop, cultivating new constructions of masculinity. However, and challenging Anderson’s emancipatory tone of inclusive masculinities as …

Exploring Customer Contexts: How A Communitarian Business Model Enables Meaningful Customer Relationships, Deirdre Duffy

Conference papers

Broadly this study explores the individual’s constructions of identity as situated within historically and locally particular cultural practices. Following this approach facilitates a better understanding of how consumers negotiate the world around them. In turn this provides marketers with valuable insights that better equip them to engage with their customers. The subject matter is the male consumer engaging in bodywork practices to construct a desired body type. The subjects are situated within two discursive regimes: practices of self-presentation and national sport. Moreover, looking across these contexts reveals situational differences that contribute further to managerial decision-making, helping build stronger customer relationships.

Discourses Of Inter-Expertise Creative Collaborative Performance In The Terra Nova Of Dublin’S Science Gallery, Diane Tangney, Olivia Freeman, Brendan O'Rourke

Conference papers

Discourses of creativity tempt us with promises of treasures from terra incognito (Cox, 2005). Creativity is central to the enterprise culture of our age and there is a dark side to such temptations (O'Rourke, 2010;Osborne, 2003; Rehn & De Cock, 2009). Creativity’s role in the enterprise culture may mean that like other aspects of enterprise culture, though many are called, few are chosen (Ainsworth & Hardy, 2008). This paper presents preliminary findings on data deriving from a larger project investigating creativity on the interactions between some special people that might be expected to be particularly creative (discipline experts from different …

Commercial Mythmaking And The Gaelic Athletic Association: Exploring Irish Men’S Identity Work Within Influential Social Networks, Deirdre Duffy

Conference papers

This paper explores young men’s engagement with Irish sporting and cultural organisation, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), to show how the interrelations and influences of one’s social network or human interdependencies all serve as potential cues on which individuals learn to construct their identity projects. This research engages Foucauldian theory to consider the effects of power emanating from multiple sources (to include the influence of peers, family, community, mass media and social institutions) on the individual. By looking at the intricacies of mundane everyday practices, such as the participation in sport, allows a better understanding of how individuals actually come …

Designing And Structuring Action Learning, David Coghlan, Paul Coughlan, Denise O'Leary, Clare Rigg

Conference papers

The question driving learning in this paper is how to organise and structure a complex action learning research network of practitioners and researchers in a pan-European network of traditional food producers. The context is an EU’s Seventh Framework Programme of a multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral collaborative project supporting a network of traditional food producers in dairy, meat and bakery sub-sectors. The project is aiming to establish a network for the effective transfer of innovative knowledge, processes and technologies with a view to improving traditional food production by providing training to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship. While much of the literature on action learning …

Using An Iconic Story To Bring Communities Together To Develop A Tourism Experience, Denise O'Leary, Mary Rose Stafford

Conference papers

Tourism destination governance is concerned with the development and management of a destination; who is involved and how they are involved. Although the term governance was traditionally associated with politics and government structures it has become more broadly applied in recent years to also describe more grassroots approaches involving various community stakeholders such as individual business owners in tourism product and service provision, business owners in other sectors, community leaders and community residents Morrison (2013). Turbulence in the market has forced the tourism industry to move away from centralised, government-led, hierarchical type of governance towards more participatory approaches where stakeholders …

The Ties That Bind: Connecting Families, Communities And Places Through The Gathering, Theresa Ryan, Ziene Mottiar, Bernadette Quinn

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

Craving Alcohol, James Peter Murphy

Conference papers

Individuals involved in the treatment of alcoholism for decades have argued that men and women crave alcohol essentially because they enjoy the effect it offers. This effect is so mysterious that, while adults will confess that these cravings are potentially dangerous to their health and wellbeing, during consumption their reasoning and belief of these facts will alternate between the true and the false. In essence these individuals' alcohol cravings life actually seems to them the only normal life. Some will demonstrate conditions of discontentment, irritability and restlessness, until they can regain the experience and ease obtained by consuming a couple …