...Learning organization is a concept of collective learning that results from individual or team learning. The concept can be seen as a win-win situation based on the argument that individuals can develop as the organization grows. A learning organization may choose to empower workers by giving greater decision making power, how to complete their tasks and work in self managed teams (Spencer and Kelly, 2013) In this essay, various debates and case studies on organizational learning and learning organization will be identified and it will be discussed if the concept is in fact based on firm foundations. According to Spencer and Kelly, 2013 workplace learning needs to begin with the substantive issues of equity, power, authority, control and ownership. Large corporations create hierarchies of control and power and are driven by the profit motive. These control, power and profit relations create the social relations within work and society. When looking at income equity, from September 2010 to September 2011 the average earnings of Canadians rose by 1.1% while the top 100 CEOs income rose by 27% (CCPA, 2012). Additionally, HRM policies create a “sense of shared ownership” and control of the enterprise but the “sense of ownership” is not the same thing as workers actually owning and controlling and could be regarded as a form of propaganda. The idea is to increase productivity and commitment which would lift labour performance higher- “committed employees would “go the extra mile”...
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...2 APPROACHES TO ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT Organisational behaviour is a discursive subject and much has been written about it. The study of organisations and management has therefore to proceed on a broad front. It is the comparative study of the different approaches that will yield benefits to the manager. The study of organisations, their structure and management is important for the manager. Identification of major trends in management and organisational behaviour, and the work of leading writers, provide a perspective on concepts and ideas discussed in more detail in other chapters. Learning outcomes After completing this chapter you should be able to: ■ identify major trends in the development of organisational behaviour and management thinking; contrast main features of different approaches to organisation and management; evaluate the relevance of these different approaches to the present-day management of organisations; explain the relationships between management theory and practice; assess the value of the study of different approaches to organisation and management; recognise the relationship between the development of theory, behaviour in organisations and management practice; establish a basis for consideration of aspects of organisational behaviour discussed in subsequent chapters. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Critical reflection ‘It is often claimed that what leading writers say is an important part of the study of management and organisational behaviour. Others say that...
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...M A N AG E M E N T D EV E LO P M E N T Part 1: Machiavelli, Fayol and Taylor The 20th century was remarkable for the rise of the professional manager – often basing his or her approach to management on a particular theory or favoured guru. MBA students all over the world have investigated these theories and written countless assignments discussing their value. As we progress through the 21st century, are these theories still relevant or have they had their day? This article is the first in a three-part series that looks at ten influential theorists and the influence they still have. The series does not attempt to create a ‘top ten’ or rank contributions in any way (they are presented in chronological order), but aims to provide food for thought and debate. Part 1 looks at Machiavelli, Fayol and Taylor – three famous theorists who have all passed into management mythology, but whose views are sometimes misunderstood. MANAGEMENT THEORISTS In a three-part series, Dilys Robinson looks at ten influential theorists and assesses their influence in business today Thinkers for the 21st century? NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI, 1469–1527 The end justifies the means achiavelli lived in Florence, where he worked for the Florentine state as a secretary, then a diplomat. His best known work, The Prince,1 is based on his observation of Cesare Borgia – a cunning, cruel and self-seeking man. Machiavelli did not regard Cesare Borgia as an ideal person, but thought that, under him, the Florentines...
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...7 Corporations in the Modern Era The Commercial Transformation of Material Life and Culture I hope we shall . . . crush in [its] birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country. —Thomas Jefferson (letter to Tom Logan, 1816) J 1 ustice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court cited the third president of the United States in his strong dissent to the majority’s 2010 decision allowing corporations unlimited spending on behalf of political candidates.1 Quoting the court’s earlier McConnell decision, Stevens wrote, “We have repeatedly sustained legislation aimed at ‘the corrosive and distorting effects of immense aggregations of wealth that are accumulated with Jefferson’s animus may seem curious in light of the history of British corporations that financed the settling of the first North American colonies and, as discussed in this chapter, are often credited with providing the model for representative government adopted by the framers of the U.S. Constitution (Tuitt 2006). 280 Corporations in the Modern Era——281 the help of the corporate form.’” The court’s decision, Justice Stevens continued, “will undoubtedly cripple the ability of ordinary citizens, Congress and the States to adopt even limited measures to protect against corporate domination of the electoral process.” The essence of Justice Steven’s dissent in the Citizens United v. Federal...
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...A Suicide Survivor: The Life of a Chinese Migrant Worker at Foxconn Sunday, 25 August 2013 12:50By Jenny Chan, The Asia-Pacific Journal | In 2010, 18 employees working for Foxconn in China attempted suicide. These shocking events focused world attention on the manufacturing supply chains of China's export industry and the experience of working within them. What had driven these young migrant assembly line workers to commit such a desperate act? This article provides a first-hand account of the experiences of one of those who survived a suicide attempt, 17-year-old Tian Yu. Her personal narrative is embedded within the broader context of labour process, work organisation and managerial practice at Foxconn, the Taiwaneseowned multinational whose 1.4 million Chinese workers provide products and components for Apple and others. Factory conditions are further shaped by the company trade union and Chinese government policies. The paper concludes with additional contextualisation indicating the emergence of an alliance of workers, students, scholars and transnational labour movement activists who are campaigning for Chinese workers' rights. Among the most prominent firms in the global supply chain that operates in China is Foxconn, the Taiwanese-owned multinational electronics contract supplier. Foxconn is the trading name for Hon Hai Precision Industry Company and, with a workforce of 1.4 million, it is the largest private sector company in China and one of the world's largest employers...
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...PROCEEDINGS of the 3rd Christian Engineering Education Conference June 23-25, 1999 at the JAARS Facility of Wycliffe Bible Translators Waxhaw, North Carolina The Mission of Christian College Engineering Programs for Y2K and Beyond Preface THE FIRST CHRISTIAN ENGINEERING EDUCATION CONFERENCE WAS HELD IN 1992 AT CALVIN COLLEGE IN GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN. SEVERAL YEARS LATER, TTHE SECOND CONFERENCE WAS HELD IN 1996 AT MESSIAH COLLEGE, IN GRANTHAM, PENNSYLVANIA. THE 1999 CHRISTIAN ENGINEERING EDUCATION CONFERENCE BROUGHT TOGETHER A DIVERSE GROUP OF DEDICATED CHRISTIAN ENGINEERS. IT WAS A DISTINCT PLEASURE TO HEAR THE WONDERFUL WAYS GOD IS WORKING IN THE VARIOUS PROGRAMS AND SCHOOLS REPRESENTED AT OUR MEETING. THE JUNGLE AVIATION AND RADIO SERVICE (JAARS) FACILITY OF WYCLIFFE WAS A FANTASTIC LOCATION FOR OUR CONFERENCE, AND WE ARE VERY THANKFUL TO OUR GRACIOUS HOSTS. A SPECIAL THANKS GOES TO CAROL WEAVER, THE JAARS CONFERENCE COORDINATOR. The goal of these conferences is to glorify God, to foster community among Christian engineering educators, and to encourage and challenge each other in our work of kingdom building. Abraham Kuyper, one of the great thinkers within the Reformed tradition of Christianity, has said that there is not one square centimeter of the creation that is not claimed by Christ. As Christian engineering educators of whatever tradition, we seek to stake that claim in our discipline, exploring how...
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...THE PROBLEM WITH WORK A JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN CENTER BOOK THE PROBLEM WITH WORK Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics, and Postwork Imaginaries KATHI WEEKS Duke University Press Durham and London 2011 © 2011 Duke University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper co Designed by Heather Hensley Typeset in Minion Pro by Keystone Typesetting, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data appear on the last printed page of this book. THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH LOVE TO JulieWalwick (1959-2010) Contents ix Acknowledgments INTRODUCTION i The Problem with Work i CHAPTF1 37 Mapping the Work Ethic CHAPTER 2 79 Marxism, Productivism, and the Refusal of Work CHAPTER 3 113 Working Demands: From Wages for Housework to Basic Income CHAPTER 4 151 "Hours for What We Will": Work, Family, and the Demand for Shorter Hours 5 CHAPTER 175 The Future Is Now: Utopian Demands and the Temporalities of Hope EPILOGUE 227 A Life beyond Work 235 255 Notes References 275 Index Acknowledgments thank the following friends and colleagues for their helpful feedback on versions of these arguments and portions of the manuscript: Anne Allison, Courtney Berger, Tina Campt, ChristineDiStefano, Greg Grandin, Judith Grant, Michael Hardt, Stefano Harney, Rebecca I would like to Karl, Ranji Khanna, Corey Robin...
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...theory currently available. What is needed is a text that will give a good idea of the breadth and complexity of this important subject, and this is precisely what McAuley, Duberley and Johnson have provided. They have done some sterling service in bringing together the very diverse strands of work that today qualify as constituting the subject of organisational theory. Whilst their writing is accessible and engaging, their approach is scholarly and serious. It is so easy for students (and indeed others who should know better) to trivialize this very problematic and challenging subject. This is not the case with the present book. This is a book that deserves to achieve a wide readership. Professor Stephen Ackroyd, Lancaster University, UK This new textbook usefully situates organization theory within the scholarly debates on modernism and postmodernism, and provides an advanced introduction to the heterogeneous study of organizations, including chapters on phenomenology, critical theory and psychoanalysis. Like all good textbooks, the book is accessible, well researched and readers are encouraged to view chapters as a starting point for getting to grips with the field of organization theory. Dr Martin Brigham, Lancaster University, UK McAuley et al. provide a highly readable account of ideas, perspectives and practices of organization. By thoroughly explaining, analyzing and exploring organization theory the book increases the understanding of a field that in recent years has become...
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