Business Commons^™

Boots On The Ground: Use And Implications Of War Metaphors In A Top Team, Jo L. Longnecker

Organization Management Journal

This paper describes the use and implications of war and military metaphors shared by a top management team working in the defense industry. The team used war metaphors pervasively to make meaning of the ambiguity and uncertainty in its environment. Five categories of war metaphors and action verbs were found. Findings from this study suggest the team used metaphors to structure and communicate abstract ideas and experiences, highlight or hide aspects of the work environment, unite team members, lead their organization, and maintain their warlike culture. Further findings demonstrate how the team constructed and maintained metaphors individually, intersubjectively, unreflectively, and …

Towards A Hermeneutics Of Narrative Identity: A Ricoeurian Framework For Exploring Narratives (And Narrators) Of Strategy, Steven Sonsino

Organization Management Journal

With notable exceptions, the organization studies literature has tended to exclude a consideration of time from considerations of narrative identity. Building on the work of Ricoeur, and starting from the position that narrative identity is dynamic and rests on a temporal structure, it is suggested that narrative identity emerges from the poetic composition of one or many narrative texts. Drawing upon Ricoeur’s conception of narrative identity, an analytic framework is developed and encompasses a dialectic where narrative is described as the path of character, and character as the path of narrative. Narrative identity, in conclusion, is a reflexive consideration of …

An Empirical Investigation Into The Power Behind Empowerment, Raymond D. Gordon

Organization Management Journal

Using the four dimensional frame that Hardy and Leiba-O’Sullivan (1998) developed to conceptually explore the “power behind empowerment” the study empirically illustrates how a police organization’s reform program, which was designed to empower lower level officers, foundered on its own innocence. The reform program adopts a resources dependency approach to power, which resonates with the first of the four dimensional frames of power; unobtrusive forms of power embedded at a deeper level of the organizations social system, which are consistent with the third and fourth dimensional frames, remain unaccounted for. A research and methodological framework is developed to bring the …

Rhizomes For Understanding The Production Of Social Science, Gustavo Seijo

Organization Management Journal

This article is about the social processes which produce social science knowledge. It is based on a discourse analysis of DELOS, a European research project into organizational learning in clusters of SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprises). The substantive focus is on the researchers’ core theoretical object: the “cluster of SMEs.” This construct remained a highly contested artifact which, for complex reasons, defied singular definition. The analysis draws on, among others, the labyrinthine novels of Franz Kafka and the theoretical musings of Deleuze and Guattari on rhizomic forms of organization in connection with actor-network theory. It is argued that the intrinsic …

From The Editor-In-Chief, Jeanie M. Forray

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor's Introduction, Steve Meisel

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Boots On The Ground: Use And Implications Of War Metaphors In A Top Team, Jo L. Longnecker

Organization Management Journal

This paper describes the use and implications of war and military metaphors shared by a top management team working in the defense industry. The team used war metaphors pervasively to make meaning of the ambiguity and uncertainty in its environment. Five categories of war metaphors and action verbs were found. Findings from this study suggest the team used metaphors to structure and communicate abstract ideas and experiences, highlight or hide aspects of the work environment, unite team members, lead their organization, and maintain their warlike culture. Further findings demonstrate how the team constructed and maintained metaphors individually, intersubjectively, unreflectively, and …

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 …

Special Issue “Emerging Scholars, Developing Perspectives, Promising Processes” Editors’ Introduction, Cliff Oswick, Tom Keenoy, Ida Sabelis, Sierk Ybema

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

An Empirical Investigation Into The Power Behind Empowerment, Raymond D. Gordon

Organization Management Journal

Using the four dimensional frame that Hardy and Leiba-O’Sullivan (1998) developed to conceptually explore the “power behind empowerment” the study empirically illustrates how a police organization’s reform program, which was designed to empower lower level officers, foundered on its own innocence. The reform program adopts a resources dependency approach to power, which resonates with the first of the four dimensional frames of power; unobtrusive forms of power embedded at a deeper level of the organizations social system, which are consistent with the third and fourth dimensional frames, remain unaccounted for. A research and methodological framework is developed to bring the …

Rhizomes For Understanding The Production Of Social Science, Gustavo Seijo

Organization Management Journal

This article is about the social processes which produce social science knowledge. It is based on a discourse analysis of DELOS, a European research project into organizational learning in clusters of SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprises). The substantive focus is on the researchers’ core theoretical object: the “cluster of SMEs.” This construct remained a highly contested artifact which, for complex reasons, defied singular definition. The analysis draws on, among others, the labyrinthine novels of Franz Kafka and the theoretical musings of Deleuze and Guattari on rhizomic forms of organization in connection with actor-network theory. It is argued that the intrinsic …

Towards A Hermeneutics Of Narrative Identity: A Ricoeurian Framework For Exploring Narratives (And Narrators) Of Strategy, Steven Sonsino

Organization Management Journal

With notable exceptions, the organization studies literature has tended to exclude a consideration of time from considerations of narrative identity. Building on the work of Ricoeur, and starting from the position that narrative identity is dynamic and rests on a temporal structure, it is suggested that narrative identity emerges from the poetic composition of one or many narrative texts. Drawing upon Ricoeur’s conception of narrative identity, an analytic framework is developed and encompasses a dialectic where narrative is described as the path of character, and character as the path of narrative. Narrative identity, in conclusion, is a reflexive consideration of …

Accountability In The Tsunami Aftermath, A. Abraham

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The devastating series of tsunamis on Boxing Day last year resulted in a flood of requests for help and Australian aid agencies launched appeals seeking cash donations to enable them to locally source food, medicine and shelter. Lists of agencies began appearing and potential donors had to decide through which agencies they should give.

Scientists, Career Choices And Organisational Change: Managing Human Resources In Cross-Sector R&D Organisations, T. Turpin, Samuel Garrett-Jones, Kieren Diment

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The resource-based view of the firm has drawn attention to the role of human resources in building innovative capacity within firms. In 'high technology' firms, scientific capability is a critical factor in achieving international competitiveness. Science, however, is a costly business and many firms are entering into cross-sector R&D partnerships in order to gain access to leading edge scientific capability. The Australian Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) program is typical of the ways many governments are seeking to promote such cross-sector R&D collaboration. Scientists are key resources in these organisational arrangemation available about why and when scientists choose to work in …

2005 December, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for December 2005.

Practicing Cpa, Vol. 29 No. 10, December 2005, American Institute Of Certified Public Accountants (Aicpa)

Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Cpa Client Bulletin, December 2005, American Institute Of Certified Public Accountants (Aicpa)

Newsletters

No abstract provided.

E-Government Capabilities And Crisis Management: Lessons From Combating Sars In Singapore, Shan Ling Pan, Gary Pan, Paul R. Devadoss

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The city-state of Singapore has been highly ranked for its e-government services. Over the past two decades, it has leveraged its IT infrastructure for economic development and transformed its public services. The SARS outbreak in 2004 turned into a national health crisis because it spread rapidly and the medical community had little knowledge of how to treat the new mutation of the corona virus. Yet, several Singaporean government agencies utilized the e-Government infrastructure and related resources to quickly bring the outbreak under control. In particular, the government?s IT infrastructure streamlined communications, information exchange, and data flow, and significantly eased collaboration …

Effect Of Sand And Wood-Shavings Bedding On The Behavior Of Broiler Chickens, S. J. Shields, J. P. Garner, J. A. Mench

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of 2 different bedding types, sand and wood shavings, on the behavior of broiler chickens. In experiment 1, 6 pens were divided down the center and bedded half with sand and half with wood shavings. Male broilers (10/pen) were observed by scan sampling at 5- or 12-min intervals throughout the 6-wk growth period during the morning (between 0800 to 0900 h), afternoon (1200 to 1500 h), and night (2300 to 0600 h). There was a significant behavior x substrate x week interaction during the day (P < 0.0001) and at night (P < 0.0002). Drinking, dustbathing, preening, and sitting increased in frequency on the sand side but decreased on the wood shavings side during the day, as did resting at night. In general, broilers performed a greater proportion of their total behavioral time budget on the sand (P < 0.0001) as they aged. Broilers used the divider between the 2 bedding types to perch; perching behavior peaked during wk 4. In experiment 2, male broilers were housed in 8 pens (50 birds/pen) bedded only in sand or wood shavings. Bedding type had no effect on behavioral time budgets (P = 0.8946), although there were age-related changes in behavior on both bedding types. These results indicate that when given a choice, broilers increasingly performed many of their behaviors on sand, but if only one bedding type was provided they performed those behaviors with similar frequency on sand or wood shavings.

Determinants Of Intra-Day Stock Price Change And Asymmetric Information, Christopher Hian Ann Ting

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper presents a synthesized model of asymmetric information. An empirical analysis of more than 1,400 NYSE common stocks shows that trade direction is more important than volume in revealing the asymmetry. There is also evidence to suggest that signed duration reflects informed trading activity. We use the proposed measure of information asymmetry to study daily changes in the level of informed trading and find that earnings announcements narrow the information gap between the informed and the uninformed. On average, information asymmetry is largest at the beginning of the trading day and it decreases monotonically toward the closing bell. More …

Using Community Service Projects To Teach Leadership And Team-Building: Theoretical Foundations, Students' Reactions And Practical Considerations, Gilbert Tan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper discusses the theoretical foundations of utilizing Community Service Project (CSP) or service-learning to teach Leadership and Team-Building. It examines the students’ reactions to this innovative method of instruction. This is done through conducting a content analysis of students’ learning journals, in which students reflect on their CSP learning experiences. Two themes emerged from the data: (a) variety of learning experiences, and (b) impact of CSP experience. The data suggested that students derived a variety of learning experiences from the CSP. In addition, there were attitudinal and learning impacts associated with the CSP experiences. The paper also outlines some …

Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Training Academy: Achieving Business Results, Vida W. Chow

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to identify the essential elements, both tangible and intangible, of establishing a training academy at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong in order to achieve business objectives in a rapidly changing and competitive global environment in the hospitality industry. With the phenomenal growth of the tourism industry in Hong Kong, Macau, and the neighboring area in China, there is a growing competition in acquiring, retaining, and developing talents in the labor market. Having a well-established training academy is not only critical in consistently delivering the brand promises to the external customers, it is also fundamental …

Minister Housing Allowance Presents New Challenges And Opportunities, Paul G. Schloemer, Ryan Wilson

Business Administration Faculty Publications

For over 50 years, ministers have enjoyed the benefits of tax-free housing. IRC section 107 permits qualified ministers to exclude housing-related compensation from gross income to the extent it relates to service performed in their ministry.

Latin America Bets On Chinese Lessons, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

These days, all roads in international trade seem to lead to China, even in the case of a small country like Chile, which recently signed a free-trade agreement with the Asian giant. It was China’s first free trade treaty with a Western country, and it opens new international routes for its products. In addition, Chinese authorities say the agreement will make Chile a bridge for investments from China into the rest of Latin America. This much is certain: Both China and the dynamic Southeast Asia region are the focal point for Latin American exports. However, the road to Asia is …

Fighting For Volunteers’ Time: Competition In The International Volunteering Industry, Sara Dolnicar, Melanie J. Randle

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Despite increased competitive pressures in the volunteering industry, the structure of competition within this non-profit sector has not been examined in the past. This study uses selected respondents from the 1999-2002 World Values Survey who have previously volunteered for multiple organisations. Based on the patterns of organisations that volunteers donated their time for, competition between volunteering organisations with different missions was analysed, resulting in five dimensions of volunteering missions within which volunteering organisations appear to be competing: altruistic, leisure, political, church, and other missions. The altruistic mission groups is the broadest and includes a wide variety of volunteering goals, whereas …

Mimetic Marketing In Environmental Volunteering Organisations, Sara Dolnicar, H. J. Irvine, K. Lazarevski, Melanie J. Randle

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The last decade has seen increased competition amongst voluntary organisations. This has resulted in a number of changes to the nonprofit sector, such as increased levels of scrutiny and accountability. Voluntary organisations compete not only for limited numbers of volunteers but also for limited grant funding made available at local, state and federal government levels. Increased competition has placed pressure on organisations to take a more commercial approach to the management of their organisations and to adopt what have been previously considered ‘for profit’ business practices such as marketing. This empirical study uses neo-institutional theory to investigate the marketing of …

Unbounded Rationality: The Role Of Connectedness In Right Decision-Making, Mario Fernando, Scott Burrows

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports the preliminary findings of a study examining the role of connection in right decision-making of managers operating in Australia. The key aims of the study are to identify the influence of connectedness in the ethical outcomes of right decision-making, to identify barriers to right decision-making and lastly, to examine the nature of any relationship/s between connectedness and unbounded rationality in right decision-making. The study compares and contrasts eight case studies of middle and senior managers drawn from information technology, service and manufacturing sectors. The primary data for the study are in-depth interviews. The findings suggest that connection …

Fostering Total Wellness Through Peer Helping: Reflections On The Smu Experiences, Gilbert Tan, Timothy Hsi

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Peer Helping is widely implemented in Colleges and Universities in the United States and Canada. Despite the popularity of these programs, very little has been researched on peer helping in the Asian context. This paper traces the theoretical foundations of peer helping and the nascent development of a peer helping program in the Singapore Management University and how this program has developed since the beginning of 2004. The initial focus of the program was based on the model of paraprofessional student counselors assisting their fellow peers through difficult moments in their lives. Over time, the program was fine-tuned to embrace …

Immigrant Entrepreneurs And Neighborhood Revitalization: Studies Of The Allston Village, East Boston And Fields Corner Neighborhoods In Boston, Ramon Borges-Mendez, Michael Liu, Paul Watanabe

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

Although somewhat later than other major urban areas, Boston has been experiencing fundamental demographic changes. The 2000 Census reported that for the first time non-Hispanic whites constitute a minority of the city’s population. Subsequent Census estimates confirm an even stronger trend toward a rapidly diversifying population.

Immigration has been a major factor in this growth and diversification. A recent report shows that over the last 15 years more than 22,000 new immigrants have annually settled in Massachusetts. The foreign-born as a percentage of the population has grown from 9.4 percent in 1980 to 14.3 percent in 2004.

Performance Evaluation Models For Strategic Decision-Making: Towards A Hybrid Model, Geraldina Villalobos Quezada

Dissertations

Performance management systems serve strategic, administrative, and developmental purposes; therefore, their role in an organization cannot be overestimated. As a function of this strategic role, different evaluation models have been developed and implemented by organizations: BSC, CIPP, TQM, Six Sigma, and AOP.

Following a review of current evaluation theory and practice models that focus on improving strategic decision-making in organizations, four research questions were developed that sought to identify the interrelationships, evaluation components, evaluation indicators, data collected to support the evaluation,evaluation implementation protocols, quantitative and qualitative analyses, outcomes, and critical factors of the BSC and CIPP models.

A multiple case …