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Article
Publication date: 16 March 2023

Leon C. Prieto, Simone T.A. Phipps, Stacey D. Reynolds and Anthony Lenard Hannah

The purpose of this paper is to provide advice on how organizations can facilitate a culture of sustainable innovation from a cooperative advantage perspective.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide advice on how organizations can facilitate a culture of sustainable innovation from a cooperative advantage perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is written for practitioners and academics focused on sustainable innovation. It includes specific advice for production & operations and accounting & finance functions and how they can contribute to sustainable innovation from a cooperative advantage perspective.

Findings

By emphasizing the importance of stakeholder wellbeing, creating opportunities for collaboration and empowering employees, human resources (HR) departments can help organizations cultivate a culture of sustainable innovation and navigate the complex challenges of addressing environmental concerns to build a more sustainable future.

Originality/value

This paper offers HR practitioners a unique approach to encourage a culture that promotes care and community, intentional dialogue and action-oriented consensus-building among employees in different departments to facilitate sustainable innovation from a cooperative advantage perspective within their respective organizations.

Details

Strategic HR Review, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1475-4398

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 April 2024

Leon Prieto, Simone T.A. Phipps, Melva Robertson and Stacey Reynolds

The article aims to explore the transformative journey of AcmeTech Manufacturing, a fictional company influenced by real-life events, from environmental negligence to adopting…

Abstract

Purpose

The article aims to explore the transformative journey of AcmeTech Manufacturing, a fictional company influenced by real-life events, from environmental negligence to adopting sustainable and responsible business practices. By examining AcmeTech's strategic communication and sustainability initiatives, the study seeks to highlight the importance of integrating sustainability within global supply chains and the role of strategic communication in building stakeholder trust and achieving corporate sustainability goals.

Design/methodology/approach

This research adopts a case study methodology, focusing on AcmeTech Manufacturing as a representative example. The case study approach allows for an in-depth exploration of AcmeTech's challenges, strategies and outcomes in its pursuit of corporate sustainability. Drawing from real-life events, the study delves into the company's transformation, its commitment to transparent communication and its efforts to incorporate sustainable practices within its global supply chains.

Findings

AcmeTech Manufacturing, once criticized for its environmental negligence, has embarked on a comprehensive sustainability journey. Recognizing the erosion of stakeholder trust due to past actions, the company has prioritized transparent and strategic communication of its sustainability efforts. AcmeTech's commitment extends beyond internal changes, emphasizing the importance of its global supply chains in its overall environmental impact. By adopting a Cooperative Advantage approach, rooted in the philosophy of ubuntu, AcmeTech not only addresses its environmental challenges but also strives to become a leader in sustainable manufacturing practices.

Originality/value

The article offers a unique perspective by combining the concepts of strategic communication and corporate sustainability within the context of global supply chains. Using the fictional case of AcmeTech Manufacturing, influenced by real-world scenarios, the study introduces the Cooperative Advantage approach, rooted in the African philosophy of ubuntu. This approach emphasizes the interconnectedness of all stakeholders, promoting a people-centered strategy to sustainability, making the article a novel contribution to the discourse on corporate sustainability.

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 52 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 July 2007

Peter Simpson

This paper aims to help develop an understanding of how complexity theory may be applied to an understanding of leadership and organizational dynamics and contributes to the…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to help develop an understanding of how complexity theory may be applied to an understanding of leadership and organizational dynamics and contributes to the growing body of literature in the same subject.

Design/methodology/approach

Stacey's theory of complex responsive processes is used to analyse leadership and organizational dynamics in an unusual example of an organizational simulation exercise on an MBA programme.

Practical implications

This article shows how the theory of complex responsive processes may offer the potential to understand episodes of emergent, and potentially creative, forms of organization and leadership. It demonstrates how to recognise and work with the qualities of participation, conversational life, anxiety, diversity, and with unpredictability and paradox.

Originality/value

This paper complements previous articles in LODJ that seek to use complexity theories in the analysis of leadership and organizational dynamics. It demonstrates how an analysis from the perspective of complex responsive processes differs from that of complexity theories that focus on systemic rather than process thinking and that do not incorporate insights from psychology and social theory.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 28 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 January 2018

Stacey Boardman, Jane Clarbour and Kelly Rayner

In forensic mental health wards, patients spend more time with healthcare assistants (HCAs) than qualified nurses. Despite this, there is no universally utilised standardised HCA…

Abstract

Purpose

In forensic mental health wards, patients spend more time with healthcare assistants (HCAs) than qualified nurses. Despite this, there is no universally utilised standardised HCA training. The purpose of this paper is to assess the HCAs’ experiences in the HCA role in order to better understand how to build on the HCA role to ensure safe practice, and enhance staff well-being.

Design/methodology/approach

HCAs working on low and medium secure NHS forensic mental health units were recruited through purposive methods. HCAs engaged in a semi-structured interview, with questions surrounding their support needs, clinical decision making and perception of risks in the role. Template analysis was used, applying an a priori template based on the existing literature to interview transcripts.

Findings

The participants described the HCA experience to be defined by two master themes: “HCA factors” and “organisational factors”. HCAs valued a holistic patient view which prized patients’ experiences. The participants described a lack of role clarity which may be defined through ward expectations and professional experience.

Originality/value

HCAs seek a holistic view of the patient; however, some overlooked patient offences in order to do their job. Future research should address how looking past offences impacts security and HCAs’ well-being long term.

Details

Journal of Forensic Practice, vol. 20 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-8794

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 August 2008

Göran Svensson, Greg Wood and Bror Roger Mathisen

This paper intends to shed some light on the relationship between leadership performance and corporate accomplishment through the aid of complexity sciences. The objective is to…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper intends to shed some light on the relationship between leadership performance and corporate accomplishment through the aid of complexity sciences. The objective is to describe leadership performance in corporate accomplishment using different teleological approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper discusses the underlying criteria of the relationship between leadership performance and corporate accomplishment. Case illustration and narrative analogy are also provided.

Findings

The authors believe that the discussion highlights a potential downside of leadership performance in corporate accomplishment and its precision rarely highlighted in practice and literature.

Research limitations/implications

There is a reigning assumption in management practice that is based on the belief that a top‐down approach of leadership performance in management and business practices is superior to the bottom‐up approach. It proffers the assumed importance of strategic management issues, but neglects the knowledge, experience, competence and awareness inherent among employees at tactical and operational levels of business practices. It also proffers a mechanical view of employee performance and ignores the worth of the generation of ideas from subordinates in management and business practices that contribute to corporate achievements. Furthermore, it neglects the fact that it is not possible to know the future nor it is predictable.

Practical implications

The paper contends that the importance of top management tends to be inflated in respect to corporate achievements in the management/leadership literature. It also contends that it should be questioned as to whether the top management of corporations are largely responsible for the corporate results on which they attempt to justify their salaries and other benefits. Furthermore, the paper contends that it also should be questioned as to what extent corporate accomplishment may be derived from the performance of the top management in organizations.

Originality/value

The paper strives to contribute to the ongoing discussion of leadership performance in corporate accomplishment in various ways. The principal contributions are: a set of teleological sub‐processes of leadership performance and a case illustration and narrative analogies of teleological leadership performance patterns, in respect to corporate accomplishment in management and business practices. These contributions provide theoretical and managerial ideas and insights to anticipate and avoid deficient or erroneous grounds of leadership performance evaluation in corporate accomplishment.

Details

Journal of Management Development, vol. 27 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0262-1711

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 22 May 2017

Melissa K. Van Dyke

Often overlooked in discussions related to how to ensure accessible and affordable high-quality early childhood education is the heavy burden that has been carried by the early…

Abstract

Often overlooked in discussions related to how to ensure accessible and affordable high-quality early childhood education is the heavy burden that has been carried by the early childhood workforce; the data reveal a level of exploitation of this workforce that must be considered and addressed. This chapter will focus attention on the economic realities of the early childhood workforce as a key element to achieve equitable access to affordable high-quality early childhood services.

Details

African American Children in Early Childhood Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-258-9

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 3 September 2015

Joanne Savage and Amanda Murray

In the present paper we explore the long-term influence of childhood neglect on violent behavior in the transition to adulthood. In particular, we test whether neglect is…

Abstract

Purpose

In the present paper we explore the long-term influence of childhood neglect on violent behavior in the transition to adulthood. In particular, we test whether neglect is spuriously related to violence due to their common association with academic achievement, physical abuse, and general offending. We then ask whether neglect has an indirect effect on violence through its impact on parental attachment, alcohol use, emotional negativity, academic achievement, or staying in school.

Methodology/approach

We use two waves of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and employ both regression models and INDIRECT, a syntax file that allows for the testing of indirect effects using SPSS (Preacher & Hayes, 2008).

Findings

We find that the long-term association between childhood neglect and violence in the transition to adulthood is robust in models controlling for GPA, physical abuse, and other forms of offending. Neglect did not have an indirect effect on violence through attachment, negative emotionality, or academic achievement but did have indirect effects on violence through its association with staying in school and with alcohol use.

Research implications

This set of analyses was exploratory in nature. Further research on neglect should be undertaken, using finely tuned measures and research questions. In addition, our findings imply that the association between neglect and later violent behavior may be intertwined with certain dynamics of physical abuse and alcohol use, which should be further studied.

Details

Violence and Crime in the Family: Patterns, Causes, and Consequences
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-262-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 May 2012

Robert J. Blomme and Kirsten Bornebroek‐Te Lintelo

This article aims to develop a conception consisting of insights from complexity theory and additional notions from Weick's sense‐making theory and existentialism for examining…

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Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to develop a conception consisting of insights from complexity theory and additional notions from Weick's sense‐making theory and existentialism for examining organization behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper carries out a literature review of Karl Weick's theory of sense‐making and some notions from existentialism to discuss the possible contributions to complexity theory and with this a further comprehension of organizational behaviour.

Findings

Four existential conditions, namely death, freedom, existentialism and meaninglessness, give a further comprehension of Weick's concept of equivocality. Equivocality is an important input for organizing processes. The complexity of organizing processes is an object for examining organizational behaviour from a complexity scientific standpoint. The authors argue that the concept of equivocality and with this the states of equilibrium in an organization can be approached with examining the states of the mentioned four existential conditions.

Practical implications

An important point of application for change managers in an organization is equivocality. The increase of equivocality will lead to a shift in the state of equilibrium in which new themes will emerge and corresponding organisational behaviour. The level of equivocality is due to the presence of existential fears. Hence, change managers should focus on existential themes and anxieties in an organization to advance emergent change.

Originality/value

New in this paper is the usage of notions from existentialism to elaborate Weick's conception of sense‐making. Also this paper discusses the possible contribution of this elaboration to research of organisational behaviour from the perspective of complexity theory.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 June 2016

Ebony O. McGee, Devin T. White, Akailah T. Jenkins, Stacey Houston, Lydia C. Bentley, William J. Smith and William H. Robinson

Much of the extant research, practice and policy in engineering education has focused on the limited persistence, waning interest and lack of preparation among Black students to…

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Abstract

Purpose

Much of the extant research, practice and policy in engineering education has focused on the limited persistence, waning interest and lack of preparation among Black students to continue beyond the post-secondary engineering pipeline. However, this research suggests that many Black PhD students persist and succeed in engineering, fueled by various motivational strengths. To better understand the motivations of Black students in engineering doctoral programs, this study aims to explore the factors that influence their decision to enroll in either an engineering or a computing doctoral program.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses an intrinsic and extrinsic motivational framework to investigate the inspiration of 44 Black engineering doctoral students in PhD engineering programs in 11 engineering schools across the country.

Findings

Results show that the participants’ motivation to pursue a PhD in engineering comes from several distinct factors, including the following: an unyielding passion for their particular discipline, a sense of responsibility to serve marginalized peoples and society, a path toward autonomy, pre-PhD mentorship and research opportunities and family and prior work experience.

Research limitations/implications

Based on this study’s findings, a reconceptualization of graduate engineering education that incorporates the importance of “being Black” and its relationships with motivating and, potentially, retaining Black science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students is also offered.

Originality/value

This paper seeks to expose particular constructs and behaviors surrounding Black students’ motivation to learn and achieve in engineering at the highest academic levels, offering a more nuanced perspective than currently is found in traditional engineering education literature.

Details

Journal for Multicultural Education, vol. 10 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-535X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 15 October 2013

Pamela Aronson and Jeylan T. Mortimer

Studies of the work “choices” of mothers are plentiful – from the factors that influence occupational selection to the reasons why women work or “opt out” when they have children…

Abstract

Studies of the work “choices” of mothers are plentiful – from the factors that influence occupational selection to the reasons why women work or “opt out” when they have children. However, we know little about how subjective preference for full or part-time work is “aligned” or “misaligned” with mothers’ objective work status. Based on qualitative interviews from the MacArthur Network’s “Transition to Adulthood and Public Policy” study, we consider the “alignment” of objective work intensity (full vs. part time) and subjective preferences, finding that one-third of the working mothers in the sample are “misaligned.” At the same time, the majority preferred full-time work: two-thirds (66 percent) either wanted to work full time and did so, or wanted to work full time but were actually employed part time. One-third of the working mothers had a preference for part-time work (although some worked full time). Only 12 percent of the working mothers in the sample were able to work part time and desired this arrangement. Furthermore, regardless of the alignment of their objective work status and preference, the majority of these mothers emphasized self-fulfillment and intrinsic satisfaction though work.

Details

Visions of the 21st Century Family: Transforming Structures and Identities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-028-4

Keywords

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