a column by Patrick Bolton, Tao Li, Enrichetta Ravina and Howard Rosenthal for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
The majority of shares in publicly traded companies in the US are held by institutional investors, who collectively have a large say on the broad objectives of these corporations.
This column shows that there is a systematic correlation between the type of institutional investor and their shareholder voting ideology. The two key dimensions of ideology are social responsibility and management discipline.
Continue reading
As someone who prefers images to words I really appreciate the clarity of the charts and graphs that accompany the text of these VOX reports. Hazel.
Showing posts with label management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label management. Show all posts
Wednesday, 14 August 2019
Tuesday, 1 August 2017
Leadership and approaches to the management of workplace bullying
an article by Chris Woodrow (Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK) and David E Guest (School of Management and Business, Kings College London, UK) published in European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology Volume 26 Issue 2 (2017)
Abstract
Leadership behaviour has been identified as an important antecedent of workplace bullying since managers may prevent, permit, or engage in the mistreatment of others. However, the issue of how managers respond when bullying occurs has received limited attention.
With this in mind, the aim of this study was to explore how managers behave when bullying occurs in their work group and to elucidate the contextual issues that underlie this behaviour. This was achieved through analysis of in-depth interviews with individuals involved in cases of bullying.
The findings revealed a typology of four types of management behaviour in cases of bullying, each underpinned by contextual factors at the individual, group, and organizational levels.
The study shows that the role of leadership in workplace bullying is more complex than previously thought and suggests several ways in which managers and organizations could deal with bullying behaviour.
Abstract
Leadership behaviour has been identified as an important antecedent of workplace bullying since managers may prevent, permit, or engage in the mistreatment of others. However, the issue of how managers respond when bullying occurs has received limited attention.
With this in mind, the aim of this study was to explore how managers behave when bullying occurs in their work group and to elucidate the contextual issues that underlie this behaviour. This was achieved through analysis of in-depth interviews with individuals involved in cases of bullying.
The findings revealed a typology of four types of management behaviour in cases of bullying, each underpinned by contextual factors at the individual, group, and organizational levels.
The study shows that the role of leadership in workplace bullying is more complex than previously thought and suggests several ways in which managers and organizations could deal with bullying behaviour.
Wednesday, 27 May 2015
Work, Bodies and Boundaries: Talking Sexual Harassment in the New Economy
an article by Laura K. Brunner and Maryanne Dever (Women’s Studies Department, University of Maryland) published in Gender, Work & Organization Volume 21 Issue 5 (September 2014)
Abstract
This article examines sexual harassment in the context of the new economy and highlights the manner in which the changing nature of work – and in particular the acknowledged rise of sexualized ‘body work’ – troubles conventional understandings of what constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace and the means to address it.
Using data from a small-scale qualitative study of service workers and professional employees, we explore the ways in which those definitions of sexual harassment now fail to match participants’ accounts of their working lives. We examine sexual harassment in the context of the rise of service roles that require forms of increasingly sexualized ‘body work’ from employees, increased demands for workers to ‘self-manage’, and new flexible modes of employment that blur the boundaries between being ‘on’ and ‘off’ the job.
We conclude that these ‘new’ modes of work may provide the conditions for the revival of ‘old’ stories which limit the capacity of individuals to recognize and label behaviours as ‘sexual harassment’.
Abstract
This article examines sexual harassment in the context of the new economy and highlights the manner in which the changing nature of work – and in particular the acknowledged rise of sexualized ‘body work’ – troubles conventional understandings of what constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace and the means to address it.
Using data from a small-scale qualitative study of service workers and professional employees, we explore the ways in which those definitions of sexual harassment now fail to match participants’ accounts of their working lives. We examine sexual harassment in the context of the rise of service roles that require forms of increasingly sexualized ‘body work’ from employees, increased demands for workers to ‘self-manage’, and new flexible modes of employment that blur the boundaries between being ‘on’ and ‘off’ the job.
We conclude that these ‘new’ modes of work may provide the conditions for the revival of ‘old’ stories which limit the capacity of individuals to recognize and label behaviours as ‘sexual harassment’.
Wednesday, 4 February 2015
‘Why would you want to do that?’: Defining emotional dirty work
an article by Robert McMurray (Durham University, UK) and Jenna Ward (De Montfort University, UK) published in Human Relations Volume 68 Number 9 (September 2014)
Abstract
This article considers how and why people work with difficult emotions.
Extending Hughes’ typology of the physical, social and moral taints that constitute ‘dirty work’, the article explores the nature of a previously neglected and undefined concept, emotional dirt.
Drawing on data from a situated ethnographic study of Samaritans, we consider how the handling of difficult and burdensome emotions, which are often written out of rational accounts of work, is outsourced to others who act as society’s agents in the containment of emotional dirt. We provide the first explicit definition of emotional dirt, and contribute an extension to the existing tripartite classification of occupational taint.
Moreover, in naming emotional dirt we seek to open up a sphere of research dedicated to understanding its emergence, nature and relational effects. To this end, we demonstrate how taint emerges as a sociological consequence of the performance of emotional labour as emotional dirty work, while considering how management of the difficult, negative or out-of-place emotions of others can be framed as a positive experience such that it can be good to feel bad when handling emotional dirt.
Abstract
This article considers how and why people work with difficult emotions.
Extending Hughes’ typology of the physical, social and moral taints that constitute ‘dirty work’, the article explores the nature of a previously neglected and undefined concept, emotional dirt.
Drawing on data from a situated ethnographic study of Samaritans, we consider how the handling of difficult and burdensome emotions, which are often written out of rational accounts of work, is outsourced to others who act as society’s agents in the containment of emotional dirt. We provide the first explicit definition of emotional dirt, and contribute an extension to the existing tripartite classification of occupational taint.
Moreover, in naming emotional dirt we seek to open up a sphere of research dedicated to understanding its emergence, nature and relational effects. To this end, we demonstrate how taint emerges as a sociological consequence of the performance of emotional labour as emotional dirty work, while considering how management of the difficult, negative or out-of-place emotions of others can be framed as a positive experience such that it can be good to feel bad when handling emotional dirt.
Friday, 31 August 2012
A new approach for managing university-workplace partnerships
an article by Teemu Ylikoski and Mika J. Kortelainen (Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Lohja, Finland) published in Industrial and Commercial Training Volume 44 Issue 6 (2012)
Abstract
Purpose
University-workplace partnerships are becoming increasingly important as the demands for authentic learning are growing. Partnership management ensures availability of authentic learning environments, joint-learning tasks, and knowledge-producing commissions for the students. Universities, however, can have difficulties in managing these crucial partnerships. This paper’s purpose is to investigate the problems and to suggest a solution.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach is based on a case study of Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Finland.
Findings
In the case study, the programme is run by business students, who as a part of their education, learn important skills in managing “customers” and projects. This results in improved learning for the students as they not only gain first-hand experience in customer relationship management, but also deeper partnerships as the relationships evolve over time. Partnerships are centrally managed and available to all participants. This programme is non-exclusive: it does not assume or require participation from the educators. If an educator wishes to keep his/her own workplace contacts private, this is possible.
Research limitations/implications
The results stem from a case study. Even though good results are reported in the case, every organization is different and using a similar approach is not guaranteed to work.
Practical implications
The paper suggests a way for universities to deepen partnerships, overcoming typical hurdles.
Originality/value
The non-exclusive approach to partnership management described in the paper is original and will benefit universities in their quest for improving partnerships. The authors believe that the use of students as the task force of the programme to this extent is a novel idea and benefits the local workplaces (new knowledge) as well as students (authentic learning).
Abstract
Purpose
University-workplace partnerships are becoming increasingly important as the demands for authentic learning are growing. Partnership management ensures availability of authentic learning environments, joint-learning tasks, and knowledge-producing commissions for the students. Universities, however, can have difficulties in managing these crucial partnerships. This paper’s purpose is to investigate the problems and to suggest a solution.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach is based on a case study of Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Finland.
Findings
In the case study, the programme is run by business students, who as a part of their education, learn important skills in managing “customers” and projects. This results in improved learning for the students as they not only gain first-hand experience in customer relationship management, but also deeper partnerships as the relationships evolve over time. Partnerships are centrally managed and available to all participants. This programme is non-exclusive: it does not assume or require participation from the educators. If an educator wishes to keep his/her own workplace contacts private, this is possible.
Research limitations/implications
The results stem from a case study. Even though good results are reported in the case, every organization is different and using a similar approach is not guaranteed to work.
Practical implications
The paper suggests a way for universities to deepen partnerships, overcoming typical hurdles.
Originality/value
The non-exclusive approach to partnership management described in the paper is original and will benefit universities in their quest for improving partnerships. The authors believe that the use of students as the task force of the programme to this extent is a novel idea and benefits the local workplaces (new knowledge) as well as students (authentic learning).
Monday, 20 August 2012
The demands and challenges of being a retail store manager: ‘Handcuffed to the front doors’
an article by Andrew Smith (University of Bradford) and Fiona Elliott (RetailCom) published in Work Employment & Society Volume 26 Number 4 (August 2012)
Abstract
This article presents a vivid account of the day-to-day reality of a female manager in a busy UK city centre food retail store.
Insights into some of the transformations in retail work are illuminated, namely restricted store budgets, lean staffing and a long-hours culture.
The combination of these factors has resulted in increasing workplace demands and time pressures, with health and well-being consequences.
This unique account enhances understandings of the twin challenges for managers in attempting to accommodate work-life balance for their staff and themselves personally. Despite these workplace pressures, the narrative is peppered with instances of practical and emotional concern and support.
Abstract
This article presents a vivid account of the day-to-day reality of a female manager in a busy UK city centre food retail store.
Insights into some of the transformations in retail work are illuminated, namely restricted store budgets, lean staffing and a long-hours culture.
The combination of these factors has resulted in increasing workplace demands and time pressures, with health and well-being consequences.
This unique account enhances understandings of the twin challenges for managers in attempting to accommodate work-life balance for their staff and themselves personally. Despite these workplace pressures, the narrative is peppered with instances of practical and emotional concern and support.
Understanding the employment relationship: markets, hierarchies and power
an article by Peter Nolan (Business School, University of Leeds) published in Industrial Relations Journal Volume 43 Issue 4 (July 2012)
Abstract
The employment relationship is fiercely contested both in theory and practice.
This article examines recent theoretical initiatives in economics that have sought to illuminate the nature, specificity, and complexities of the employment relationship.
It examines claims by proponents of the new institutional economics (NIE) that they can account for the historical emergence of authority relations and the dominance of hierarchical work organisations without reference to the forces of class power, coercion and labour subordination.
The NIE is contrasted with the ‘old’ institutional economics (OIE) and the distinctive insights of an industrial relations perspective.
The paper considers in conclusion whether a synthesis of NIE and industrial relations research would achieve a deeper understanding of the institutional forms of wage-labour in contemporary capitalist economies.
Hazel’s comment:
I was intrigued by this abstract and have marked up my reading list for my next visit to the British Library. I may not understand all the economics jargon (that’s fairly certain) but a deeper understanding of wage-labour would be good.
Abstract
The employment relationship is fiercely contested both in theory and practice.
This article examines recent theoretical initiatives in economics that have sought to illuminate the nature, specificity, and complexities of the employment relationship.
It examines claims by proponents of the new institutional economics (NIE) that they can account for the historical emergence of authority relations and the dominance of hierarchical work organisations without reference to the forces of class power, coercion and labour subordination.
The NIE is contrasted with the ‘old’ institutional economics (OIE) and the distinctive insights of an industrial relations perspective.
The paper considers in conclusion whether a synthesis of NIE and industrial relations research would achieve a deeper understanding of the institutional forms of wage-labour in contemporary capitalist economies.
Hazel’s comment:
I was intrigued by this abstract and have marked up my reading list for my next visit to the British Library. I may not understand all the economics jargon (that’s fairly certain) but a deeper understanding of wage-labour would be good.
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
The myth of “transferable skills” for senior executives – key lessons to be learnedto be ...
an article by Harry Gray (Dean at Grove International Business School, UK) published in Development and Learning in Organizations Volume 26 Issue 3 (2012)
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to challenge the notion that senior managers and executives have a set of “transferable skills” that can be successfully ported from one type of organization to another and even within the same organization.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reflects on published information.
Findings
The paper calls for a different type of approach to developing senior managers and leaders that requires them to reflect on their own practice.
Originality/value
The paper draws the reader's attention to a potential underlying pattern in the failure of many senior appointments across different industry sectors.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to challenge the notion that senior managers and executives have a set of “transferable skills” that can be successfully ported from one type of organization to another and even within the same organization.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reflects on published information.
Findings
The paper calls for a different type of approach to developing senior managers and leaders that requires them to reflect on their own practice.
Originality/value
The paper draws the reader's attention to a potential underlying pattern in the failure of many senior appointments across different industry sectors.
Monday, 23 April 2012
Anthropologising the complexity of leadership: a holistic understanding of cross-cultural context
an article by Huiyan Fu published in International Journal of Complexity in Leadership and Management Volume 1 Number 4 (2011)
Abstract
The topic of leadership is exciting with a mysterious undertone. It has long remained one of the most overanalysed, frantically debated, and yet frustratingly underspecified areas of research within management and organisational studies.
Using Japan as an example, this paper attempts to bring anthropological perspectives to bear on the unravelling of the leadership conundrum. Of great significance is the contextualisation of leadership in space and time; what it means to be leadership varies from nation/organisation to nation/organisation and changes over time.
Although the complex nature of context is now often invoked, confusion and chaos continue to abound. It is suggested that a holistic understanding of cross-cultural context, combined with commitment to empirically-based, qualitative methods, can serve as an alternative approach to clarifying the jumbled field of leadership research, as well as throwing fresh insights into practical application and future direction.
Abstract
The topic of leadership is exciting with a mysterious undertone. It has long remained one of the most overanalysed, frantically debated, and yet frustratingly underspecified areas of research within management and organisational studies.
Using Japan as an example, this paper attempts to bring anthropological perspectives to bear on the unravelling of the leadership conundrum. Of great significance is the contextualisation of leadership in space and time; what it means to be leadership varies from nation/organisation to nation/organisation and changes over time.
Although the complex nature of context is now often invoked, confusion and chaos continue to abound. It is suggested that a holistic understanding of cross-cultural context, combined with commitment to empirically-based, qualitative methods, can serve as an alternative approach to clarifying the jumbled field of leadership research, as well as throwing fresh insights into practical application and future direction.
Friday, 12 December 2008
Life after death? The Soviet system in British higher education
an article by Hugo Radice in International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy Volume 3 Number 2 (2008)
Abstract
Recent studies of British higher education (HE) have focused on the application of the principles of the “new managerialism” in the public sector, ostensibly aimed at improving the effectiveness of research and teaching, and also on the increasing commercialisation of HE. This article examines HE management in the light of the historical experience of the Soviet system of economic planning. Analogies with the dysfunctional effects of the Soviet system are elaborated with regard to financial planning and the systems of quality control in academic research and teaching. It is argued that Soviet-style management systems have paradoxically accompanied the growing market orientation of HE, undermining traditional professional values and alternative models of engagement between HE institutions and the wider society.
Abstract
Recent studies of British higher education (HE) have focused on the application of the principles of the “new managerialism” in the public sector, ostensibly aimed at improving the effectiveness of research and teaching, and also on the increasing commercialisation of HE. This article examines HE management in the light of the historical experience of the Soviet system of economic planning. Analogies with the dysfunctional effects of the Soviet system are elaborated with regard to financial planning and the systems of quality control in academic research and teaching. It is argued that Soviet-style management systems have paradoxically accompanied the growing market orientation of HE, undermining traditional professional values and alternative models of engagement between HE institutions and the wider society.
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