Making ‘my’ problem ‘our’ problem: Warfare as collective action,and the role of leader manipulation

Warfare is a collective action problem, and groups often stand to benefit from the quick and coordinated action that leaders can provide. This basic principle is as true in modern political contexts as it has been across our evolutionary history, and there is growing evidence that leadership has evolved, in part, to solve such collective action problems. Despite the material and reproductive benefits of leadership for groups, leaders may also seek private gains at the expense of group interests. Drawing upon insights from social and evolutionary psychology, I explain how leaders solve collective action problems in warfare, but also how leaders manipulate audience preferences when their own interests do not align with group interests. Specifically, when leaders anticipate great private gain from foreign aggression while facing steep public resistance at home, leaders will misframe the conflict as defensive rather than offensive in nature. I provide an evolutionary analysis that explains why leaders exploit this framing specifically, and I identify the specific aspects of conflict framing that are most likely to be exploited toward this end.     

Business Ethics through Meditation: The Ethical ‘I,’ the Ethical ‘You,’ the Ethical ‘We’⋆

Environmentalists have been criticizing the ethics of business people concerning the natural environment. Citing Thomas Berry as an example, this paper attempts to bring his three abstract values (presence, subjectivity, and communion) closer to the understanding of the average business person through meditation. The introduction describes business ethics in terms of relationships to the individual, or the ethical ‘I’ to the natural environment, or the ethical ‘You’ and to interpersonal relationships, or the ethical ‘We.’ Meditation is also defined, according to Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1986), as a meditative experience together with a period of reflection and small-group discussion. More specifically, meditation takes on three forms. Part one describes nondiscursive meditation in the context of what Berry means by presence. The problem addressed here is how to meet and cultivate the ethical ‘I.’ Part two will deal with semidiscursive meditation in the context of what Berry means by subjectivity, or the ethical ‘I’ in relation to the earth. The earth then becomes the ethical ‘You.’ Part three will deal with Berry's definition of communion, or the ethical ‘We.’ The practice of discursive meditation gradually leads to what Thomas Berry calls a renewed ‘visionary experience.’ The article concludes with a redefinition of business ethics in terms of our relationships to ourselves, as human persons, to the earth as our living environment, and to each other as members of the human community. The redefinition of our relationships through meditation is ‘visionary,’ or a new ‘paradigm,’ that, hopefully, will lead to the renewed ethical practice that other environmentalists are also advocating, for example, Arnold Berleant. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Supporting temporary agency workers’ affective commitments: exploring the role of opportunities for competence development

Nowadays, many organizations employ parts of their workforce via employment agencies and, as such, temporary agency workers (TAWs) are important for our economies. Increasingly, research is conducted to explore the relationships among the three parties involved – the TAW, the client organization and employment agency – and how this relationship can be strengthened by HR instruments. This study adds to this stream of literature by studying to what extent TAWs’ affective commitment (AC) towards the client organization and employment agency relates to their expectations and their fulfilled expectations regarding offered opportunities for competence development (OfCD) by both organizations, and by exploring to what extent TAWs regard both employment organizations responsible for offering them OfCD. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted among TAWs in the Netherlands (n = 449), including quantitative and qualitative analyses. All results of this study together revealed that TAWs tend to be focused on the client organization with regard to OfCD. This is the organization to which they feel most affectively committed, that they regard responsible for organizing their OfCD, and where they ask for OfCD. This study indicated that TAWs do not yet profit maximally from the triangular employment relationship, and have a rather traditional view on TAW constructions.     

‘Born-again global’ firms: An extension to the ‘born global’ phenomenon

Firm internationalisation has for long been regarded as an incremental process, wherein firms gravitate towards ‘psychologically close’ markets and increase commitment to international markets in a gradual, stepwise manner through a series of evolutionary ‘stages.’ However, much of the recent literature provides clear evidence of rapid and dedicated internationalisation by ‘born global’ firms. Typically, these are smaller entrepreneurial firms that internationalise from inception or begin shortly thereafter. Their main source of competitive advantage is often related to a more sophisticated knowledge base that they use to exploit the dynamics of an increasingly global market environment. This contribution posits that there is growing evidence of another phenomenon, that of the emergence of ‘born-again’ global firms. These are firms that have been well established in their domestic markets, with apparently no great motivation to internationalise, but which have suddenly embraced rapid and dedicated internationalisation. The underlying motivations and triggers leading to such a strategy are explored and illustrated through a number of case studies. Research and public policy implications of the ‘born-again’ global phenomenon are discussed.     

Ethics as Politics: Federal Ethics as the Basis for a ‘Normative’ Stakeholder Theory

This paper argues that business ethics needs to deal more effectively with situations in which stakeholder interests conflict – the essence of politics. The nature of conflicting interests and the inability of current theory to deal with conflict are explored. Federal ethics is offered as a promising approach to conflict in stakeholder relations. The paper begins by tracing the development of federal theory and then defines the central value of federal ethics – fidelity. Building on the work of Gabriel Marcel, I ground an ethic of fidelity in consent and creativity. The distinctive features of this approach are highlighted by contrasting it with integrative social contracts theory. Unlike traditional approaches, federal ethics provides a focus on process, rather than principle, which lends itself better to the essentially political nature of stakeholders in conflict. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Strategic alliances for corporate sustainability innovation: The ‘how’ and ‘when’ of learning processes

Mounting sustainability pressures challenge established firms to engage with sustainability innovations, which are often introduced by startups. Research on alliance learning has established the potential of learning from startups to advance corporate innovation. Here, scholars have outlined alliance learning processes and outcomes and have distinguished learning about and learning from alliance partners as two key learning types. The saliency of learning from the operational alliance process is stressed. To date, however, no study has investigated alliance learning processes and outcomes for sustainability innovations. This is despite the fact that sustainability research suggests learning processes in the sustainability context have a distinct nature. This study addresses this research gap by analyzing the sustainability-specific learning processes and outcomes of a large European meat producer and wholesaler with a turnover of $2.7bn in the fiscal year 2019/2020. The firm formed alliances with nine startups for sustainable plant, insect-based and cell-based protein solutions. Our analysis (1) identifies three distinct characteristics of sustainability-related alliance learning processes and outcomes, and (2) specifies the temporal occurrence and outcomes of learning types in alliance learning phases. In contrast to findings of prior research, our study reveals that learning about alliance partners is of key importance throughout the whole sustainability-oriented alliance learning process. In addition, the findings highlight that alliance learning outcomes may support an established firm's contribution to the sustainability transformation of mass markets.     

‘Training,it's a load of crap!’: the story of the hairdresser and his ‘Suit’

Many managers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are more concerned about survival rather than growth. There are consistent findings that indicate managers in SMEs do not respond favourably to offers of HRD interventions and government policy now recognizes the value of informal learning and demand-led intervention. A social constructionist approach is suggested to consider engaging and working with SME managers. A framework of SME ‘worlds’ is considered before the case of one SME is examined. Using data from three different sources, the various positionings are considered. The case shows how from an apparently antagonistic view of external training, the manager was prepared to allow a coach/mentor to work with him towards his vision for expansion and growth. Conclusions are provided concerning engagement and stretch with SMEs, policy and future funding for HRD and the definition of skills development.     

On the meaning of ‘Waste’: review and definition

Waste reduction is one of the main principles of lean, but it has been taken for granted that we have a common understanding of what waste means. We first present a critical, qualitative discussion that identifies four distinct waste concepts. We then conduct a systematic review of the literature that examines the different uses of these concepts. We find that only the classic concept of the seven wastes and the concept of waste as non-value-adding activity are widely applied. However, both concepts are, at times, not only incompatible but used in a way that leads to open contradiction. A new definition, centred on an efficient, timely transformation process seeks to consolidate the literature. We outline two distinct waste types: (i) obvious waste, to refer to any waste that can be reduced without creating another form of waste; and, (ii) buffer waste, to refer to any waste that cannot be reduced without creating another waste. The paper has important implications for practice. To reduce waste, managers must undertake three interlinked tasks: the elimination of obvious waste; the reduction of variability to transform buffers into obvious waste; and, the balancing of remaining buffers to best achieve performance targets. The paper supports managers in their endeavours to identify waste, which is an important precursor to waste reduction/elimination.     

‘Quality’ part-time work in Australian organizations: implications for HRD

Part-time work is an international phenomenon. Many western countries show similar patterns to Australia, with a significant increase in part-time work in the last twenty to twenty-five years. In Australia, part-time work has developed some unique features, particularly as it often involves lower wages and poor conditions. Part-time employees in Australia are often excluded from human resource development (HRD) activities such as training and career tracks provided to full-time workers. The experience of particular Australian organizations illustrates possible avenues for quality part-time work. This paper examines practical examples of quality part-time work in eight Australian organizations across five industries (nursing, hospitality, retail, local government and the legal profession). Using case study research, the paper discusses the dimensions of quality part-time work in different industry and occupational contexts from an HRD perspective.     

Challenging the ‘dirty worker’—‘clean client’ dichotomy: Conceptualizing worker-client relations in dirty work

Dirty work research has long analytically prioritized focusing on the people who do dirty work, largely sidestepping who the clients of dirty work are and what contribution they can make to workers’ experience of the job as more or less dirty. We address these oversights through a systematic review and analysis of 65 articles, theorizing the role played by clients within dirty work. Firstly, we propose a three-fold categorization of dirty work clients based on their temporal-spatial proximity to the work and explain how clients can be a source of stigma through communicative and corporeal interactions with workers. Secondly, we collate existing discussions that mention worker-client relations into a conceptual framework of clients’ contributions to dirty work through considering several feedback loops between clients’ and workers’ behaviours and discourses. In doing so, we examine the ways in which clients can both reinforce and alleviate workers’ experience of dirty work stigma.     

‘Management Standards’ work-related stress in the UK: practical development

Research commissioned for the UK's Health & Safety Executive (HSE) supports the view that a preventative, risk-assessment based approach would be more effective than case-based methods in achieving a nationwide reduction in work-related stress. The background to this approach is described and discussed in a companion paper in this issue (Mackay, Cousins, Kelly, Lee, & McCaig, ). The present paper describes the development of HSE's new stress Management Standards—which offer organizations continuous improvement through a three-phase stress preventative process—and the development of a supporting ‘Indicator Tool’ (a two-phase questionnaire to assess employee perceptions of working conditions). The Management Standards comprise a series of ‘states to be achieved’, which are statements of good practice in six key stressor areas: demands, control, support, relationships, role and organizational change. For each stressor area there is also a ‘platform statement’ that outlines the main aims to be achieved by the organization. This statement may include a target percentage of employees finding that the organization meets the standard: this matter will be settled after the standards have been assessed in a public consultation campaign. To use the new process, an organization's state can first be assessed using the Indicator Tool; liaising with workers in focus groups enables a further exploration of issues raised; finally, there may be formulation of interventions and subsequent review. It is not intended that the standards will be legally enforceable. HSE's aim is that they and the associated methodology will enable organizations to effectively tackle work-related stress, and subsequently reduce both its incidence and prevalence.     

The emergent ‘coaching industry’: a wake-up call for HRD professionals

Recent years have seen the rapid growth of an emergent ‘coaching industry’ in many countries with some scholars calling for the development of a ‘coaching profession’ replete with its own clear identity, clear boundaries and unique body of knowledge. Yet, at the same time, coaching has also been conceived as a necessary area of expertise and skill set among contemporary HRD professionals. Therefore, this article reports the results of a comparative study of the different conceptualizations and definitions of ‘coaching’ and contemporary HRD as reported in the literature. Results suggest that the intended purposes and processes associated with both fields of practice are virtually the same. The challenge and dilemma posed by these results are described from both a coaching and HRD perspective, and are discussed in terms of seeing the findings of this comparative study as a wake-up call for HRD professionals.     

‘Strong Personalities’ and ‘Strong Institutions’ Mediated by a ‘Strong Third Force’: Thinking ‘Systems’ in Corruption Control

Corruption in public sector is a complex, ‘messy’ and ‘fuzzy’ phenomenon which involves calculus machinations between actors and constantly growing in sophistication. Consequently, an attempt to prevent, control or fight it requires systems thinking that ranges from public officials with integrity and personal ethics [strong personalities]; administrative rules and procedures as well as governments adopting, enforcing and monitoring appropriate systems [strong institutions]. This paper provides a systems approach to enhancing public sector ethics through ‘a corruption control tripod’ in preventing, controlling and combating corruption in all its forms. This framework discusses three overarching pillars and argues that adopting a reductionist approach in corruption control would yield futility; there is a need for synthesis so that each one would reinforce the other.     

The role of the board in shaping foundations’ strategy: an empirical study

This paper investigates the relationships of the choice of philanthropic strategy with board capital (diversity and networks), board activities (board processes, internal board committees, and board effectiveness), and CEO leadership. Using a sample of 110 Italian foundations, the research shows that board processes have the strongest positive association with an evolved strategic approach to philanthropic institutional grant-giving, while board diversity and strong CEO leadership are associated with the strategic approach only under certain conditions. In particular, good governance processes (e.g., training the board, self-evaluation of trustees, setting the stage for effective board and committee meetings, implementing control software, and steering meetings to improve the board’s analysis) are positively associated with evolved strategic approaches to philanthropy (e.g., signaling other funders for the best grantees, improving the performance of grant recipients, and advancing selected social fields’ state of knowledge and practice).     

Hurricane Katrina, the Crisis of Leadership, and Chaos Management: Time for Trying the ‘Surprise Management Theory in Action’

Four years have gone by since the historic Hurricane Katrina hit and drowned the city of New Orleans and caused a massive crisis of, and a global case of grand failure in, governance, leadership, and public management. Advancing on an earlier work published in Public Administration Review (Farazmand 2007), in which a global case of grand failure was established with several lessons drawn for future crisis management, this article argues further for developing and applying a theory of ‘surprise management’ to manage future crises and chaotic situations. Crises are borne out of natural and human made disasters, catastrophes, revolutions, and rapidly changing emergencies. Surprise management is the best approach to managing or coping with crises and crisis driven emergencies.     

Security-voting structure and equity financing in the banking sector: ‘one head-one vote’ versus ‘one share-one vote’

Using a unique dataset including all rights issues of new shares and other equity-like securities announced by Italian listed banks between 1989 and 2014, and exploiting the ideal setting provided by the Italian Banking Law, which allows for listed co-operative banks, we test if the ‘one head-one vote’ principle of co-operative banks and the ‘one share-one vote’ voting system of joint stock banks imply different costs of equity. Our empirical results, obtained using an event-study methodology, regressions and matching estimators, support our research hypothesis that the one head-one vote principle makes it more difficult raising new capital compared to one share-one vote principle, and contribute to the literature on demutualization and cooperative hybrids.