The Role of Task and Process Conflict in Strategizing

The implementation of strategic initiatives is central to organizational success because it involves not just the execution of strategy, but also the formulation of strategy content. Yet, strategy implementation is complex, partially because it is critically affected by human dynamics. These dynamics are an integral but poorly understood aspect of how organizations negotiate multiple goals. Conflict is one dynamic that has received little attention in the context of strategy implementation. The authors address this gap by studying task and process conflict as a firm implements a strategy in real time. The study demonstrates that process conflict directs attention to problems with how to implement a strategy, while task conflict directs attention to problems with the content of the strategy. Critically, however, managers can only harness generative effects of conflict if they correctly diagnose process and task conflict, and respond to both forms of conflict. This requires an understanding of the entwined nature of task and process conflict, and highlights the necessity of aligning responses to these forms of conflict. Thus, this study offers conflict as one explanatory mechanism of how actors execute strategy and clarify strategy content.     

The relationship between old-fashioned and modern heterosexism to social dominance orientation and structural violence

This study proposes that broader social systemic factors could have a role in the perpetuation of two types of heterosexism. Old-fashioned and modern heterosexism are discussed and differentiated. The roles of social dominance orientation and the acceptance of structural violence in the maintenance of heterosexism are explored. Results indicated that social dominance orientation and the acceptance of structural violence predicted the level of old-fashioned and modern heterosexism in a sample of 129 people. Acceptance of structural violence better predicted both modern and old-fashioned heterosexism than did social dominance orientation. Such relationships highlight the possibility that social systemic beliefs may create and support heterosexism.     

The Moderating Effect of Countries’ Development on the Characterization of the Social Entrepreneur: An Empirical Analysis with GEM Data

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - The objective of this paper is to analyze the moderating effect that the level of development of countries exerts on the...     

Connecting Two Sides: A Qualitative Study on Social Innovation Ventures and Poor Communities in an Emerging Economy

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - The relationship between social innovation venture and poor communities has received little attention from studies in the...     

The Gendered Double Standard of Aging in US Marriage Markets

Using data on marriages collected in most US states between 1970 and 1988, we show that the older men are when they marry, the more years senior to their brides they are, whether it is a first or higher‐order marriage. While older men with more education marry down in age slightly more than less educated older men, the pattern of men marrying further down if they marry later holds strongly for all education groups. We consider several possible explanations for the tendency of men to marry further down in age if they are older at marriage. While we have no direct measure of physical attractiveness, we argue that the most compelling interpretation is that men, more than women, evaluate potential spouses on the basis of appearance. Because the prevailing standard of beauty favors young women, the older men are when they marry, the less they find women their own age attractive relative to younger women, leading them to marry further down in age if they are older at marriage. The consequence for women of men's preference for youth is more often that they remain unmarried than that they end up married to much older or less educated men.     

Wood, management and dust: analysis of the Context of Production of Goods and Services (CPGS) of an academic woodwork

The CGPS of the woodwork of a public university was observed and analyzed. Apart from what is usual in the field of Ergonomics' studies, it is an academic context, where there is not a direct implication of profit, productivity and clientele. The group tried to sever negative and broadcasted opinions about the place by analyzing it from a different point of view. This work was considered relevant, since it is related to neglect of education and citizenship. For this case study, it was used the Ergonomics Analysis of Work with all workers at the woodwork. The instruments were documental analysis, free observation with photographic register, semi-structured interview with the workers and survey Pontos de Verica??o Ergon?mica. The results are presented by the perspective of work conditions, work organization and social-professional work relationship. The present study brought several contributions, such as the complementation of the theory and a new perspective of the analyzed context, o bserved now by the worker's point of view. As a result of the analysis, it was questioned about citizenship and the neglect with the public good, even though the relevant social role that this academic institution plays. In conclusion, the group suggests some proposals that modify positively the CGPS of this academic woodwork.     

Ergonomic analysis of the use of open-plan offices in Brazilian public sector offices

The open-plan office is a layout used in government offices in Brazil aimed at saving on space occupied and integrating employees. However, the design of these work-stations must follow the characteristics of tasks and their interrelationships, since adverse physical and organizational conditions may have a negative impact on work productivity. From this perspective, this study sought to identify, from the viewpoint of the ergonomics of the built environment, the adequacy of the open-plan government offices for financial auditing accounts and analyzing documents. Use was made of the Ergonomic Methodology for Evaluating the Built Environment--MEAC (in Portuguese) which systematically analyzes the physical space, by using a mix of physical-spatial assessments and tools for identifying how the environment is perceived. The MEAC was employed in three analytical phases of the physical aspects, namely: an analytical phase of the user's perception; a diagnostic phase; and a final phase of propositions.     

Biomechanical strain of goldsmiths

The work of the goldsmiths consists in the manufacture of jewelry. The piece, be it an earring, bracelet or necklace, is hand-assembled. This task requires precision, skill, kindness and patience. In this work, we make use of tools such as cuticle clippers and rounded tip, beads or precious stones and also pieces of metal. This type of activity requires a biomechanical stress of hands and wrists. In order to quantify the biomechanical stress, we performed a case study to measure the movements performed by an assembly of pieces of jewelry. As method for research, filming was done during assembly of parts to a paste, using a Nikon digital camera, for 1 (one) hour. The film was edited by Kinovea software, and the task was divided into cycles, each cycle corresponds to a complete object. In one cycle, there are four two movements of supination and pronation movements of the forearm. The cycle lasts approximately sixteen seconds, totaling 1800 cycles in eight hours. Despite the effort required of the wrists, the activity shows no complaints from the employees, but this fact does not mischaracterizes the ability of employees to acquire repetitive strain injuries and work-related musculoskeletal disorders.