Business Commons^™

The Steward’S Role In Bargaining, Ken Margolies

Ken Margolies

[Excerpt] Bargaining a new contract is one of the biggest events in the life of a union, and one that offers stewards many opportunities to build a stronger organization. For many stewards, though, the bargaining process consists of responding the three big questions from the members.

Communicating Across Cultures, Ken Margolies

Ken Margolies

[Excerpt] Communication is the key to so many things a steward does, and good communication skills are something experienced stewards develop. But even experienced stewards have special challenges when the communication is between people of different cultures.

Working It Out, Ken Margolies

Ken Margolies

[Excerpt] Every steward knows that it’s almost always better to work out problems with management informally, without having to resort to filing a grievance. And ever steward knows that if you do have to file a grievance, it’s better to win it at the first step than have to go through the headaches that come with moving higher up the food chain, or, even worse, risk leaving things in the hands of an arbitrator.

Time Management For Stewards, Ken Margolies

Ken Margolies

[Excerpt] Too much to do? Too little time to do it? Stewards face that problem every day – and the smart ones do something about it. It’s called time management.

Talking Vs. Communicating, Ken Margolies

Ken Margolies

[Excerpt] There is a saying, "When all is said and done, more is said than done." Stewards who attend union meetings to decide how to handle and issue or grievance sessions with management probably agree. Why is it so difficult to get past the talk and make decisions, agreements, and well, get things done?

Telecommunications 2004: Strategy, Hr Practices & Performance - Cornell-Rutgers Telecommunications Project, Rosemary Batt, Alex Colvin, Harry Katz, Jeffrey Keefe

Rosemary Batt

This national benchmarking report of the U.S. telecommunications services industry traces the tumultuous changes in management and workforce practices and performance in the sector over the last 5 years. This is a follow-up report to our 1998 study. At that time, when the industry was booming, we conducted a national survey of establishments in the industry. In 2003, we returned to do a second national survey of the industry, this time in a sector that was recovering from one of the worst recessions in its history.

Human Resource Management, Service Quality, And Economic Performance In Call Centers, Rosemary Batt, Lisa M. Moynihan

Rosemary Batt

This paper examines the relationship between human resource practices, operational outcomes, and economic performance in call centers. The study draws on a sample of 64 call centers serving the mass market in a large telecommunications services company. Surveys of 1,243 employees in the 64 centers were aggregated to the call center level and matched to archival data on service process quality, as measured by customer surveys; call handling time, revenues per call, and net revenues per call. Our path analysis shows that human resource practices emphasizing employee training, discretion, and rewards lead to higher service quality, higher revenues per call, …

The Indian Call Centre Industry: National Benchmarking Report Strategy, Hr Practices, & Performance, Rosemary Batt, Virginia Doellgast, Hyunji Kwon, Mudit Nopany, Priti Nopany, Anil Da Costa

Rosemary Batt

Report of the Global Call Centre Industry Project

The dramatic growth of the call center industry is a world-wide phenomenon, fueled by advances in information technologies and the precipitous decline in the costs of voice and data transmission over the last two decades. As part of this global industry, call centres in India have experienced spectacular growth in the last five years. They generate seventy percent of the revenues of the Indian Business Process Outourcing (BPO) industry, according to estimates by Mckinsey (www.nasscom.org).

This rapid growth has also brought managerial challenges in terms of recruitment,staffing, training, and retention of workers …

Mediation Testing In Management Research: A Review And Proposals, R. E. Wood, J. S. Goodman, N. Beckmann, Alison Cook

Alison Cook

We reviewed and critiqued the conduct and reporting of mediation analyses in 409 studies published in five leading organization studies journals over the past 25 years. The aim of our study was to learn from past practice and to use that knowledge to signal to researchers the importance of correctly applying mediation tests, and to facilitate the valid testing of mediation models and the reporting of mediation results in future studies. We content coded our sample for a wide range of characteristics and found that the majority of inferences of full and partial mediation were based on testing procedures that …

An Empirical Investigation Of The Antecedents, Behaviors, And Outcomes Of Bad Leadership, Anthony Erickson, James Shaw, Zha Agabe

James B Shaw

This exploratory study identifies actions and behaviours which subordinates attribute to ‘bad leadership’ and explores the implications these factors have for organizations. Data was obtained through a web-based survey that generated 335 respondents who completed at least some of the questions. Results identified the prevalence of bad leaders; behaviours causing a leader to be perceived as bad; the impact of bad leaders on the employee and organisation; whether these bad leaders had always been bad; and what happened to the bad leader. An interesting discovery was that the majority of bad leaders were either promoted or rewarded by the organization.

Active Learning: Impact Of Use Of Webcasts In A Business Class, Grace S. Thomson

Dr. Grace S. Thomson

No abstract provided.

Franchise, Margin And Locale: Constructing A Critical Management Studies Locale In Aotearoa/Nz, Craig Prichard, Janet G. Sayers, Ralph Bathurst

Janet G Sayers

Most academic disciplines have their symbolic and material ‘homes’ in the metropolitan centres of the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK). Consequently researchers working in Aotearoa/NZ face a choice as to the kinds of relations they develop with these metropolitan centres. We argue that researchers tend to adopt three particular modes of response: franchise, margin and locale. In this paper we illustrate each mode by reflecting on a joint research programme, Music and Organisation. We suggest researchers need to move beyond franchise and margin responses and develop methods of research that explore local issues using local …

Global Competition’S Perfect Storm: Why Business And Labor Cannot Solve Their Problems Alone, Denise M. Rousseau, Rosemary Batt

Rosemary Batt

A perfect storm is a conjoining of forces that intensifies effects. This commentary addresses the economic perfect storm that the United States and many other developed countries face as they attempt to become globally competitive. Its forces conflate strategic change with the erosion of employment and income security as firms shed labor and old institutional arrangements, in turn degrading quality of work and family life for workers as well as the futures of retirees. We evaluate the responses of our commentators—Louis Uchitelle, J.T. Battenberg III, and Thomas Kochan—who assess the current crisis and possible solutions to it. Their responses and …

Impact Of Information Technology On Marketing Performance For Private Hospitals In Jordan(Applied Study On Private Sectors Hospitals In Amman District, Philadelphia University

Philadelphia University, Jordan

No abstract provided.

Work-Family Conflict And Health: A Study Of The Workplace, Psychological, And Behavioral Correlates, Susan R. Madsen, Cameron John, Duane Miller

Susan R. Madsen

Quantitative methods are used to shed light on the relationships among work-family conflict, health, and other workplace, psychological, and behavioral constructs, i.e., organizational commitment, management/leadership relations, job knowledge and skills, job demands, workplace social relations, and readiness for change. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data regarding the perceptions of 464 employees in four organizations. Negative correlations were found between work-family conflict and all variables except job knowledge and skills. Significant relationships were also discovered between health and all study variables. Multiple regressions were used to explore the relationships between the demographic variables and work-family conflict and health.

Talent Wins, Carol Gill

Carol Gill

Progressive HR Practices can make your business an employer of choice if you can move beyond 'toxic accounting' and 'downsizing' anorexia.

Malaysian Culture And The Leadership Of Organisations: A Globe Study, Norma Mansor

Norma Mansor

Leadership behavior significantly influences the performance of companies and the motivation of people. However, much of our knowledge regarding the characteristics of effective leaders is based on research carried out in Western countries. To redress this imbalance, the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) Research Program was set up in the early 1990s to investigate leadership behaviors in over 60 countries around the world, including Malaysia. Much cross-cultural research focuses on identifying differences between cultures. In contrast, the results of the GLOBE research indicate that a number of attributes associated with charismatic/transformational leadership are universally endorsed by all cultures …

The Economies Of Schindler's List, Kirby Farrell Prof

kirby farrell

The Role Of Leadership And Cultural Contingencies In Total Quality Management In Central America, Asbjorn Osland

Asbjorn Osland

No abstract provided.

Cruise Lines: An Ocean Of Employment Opportunity, Yanni D. Afthinos

Yanni D Afthinos

No abstract provided.