Management training in Greece: evolution from improvisation to the systematic development of professional qualifications

Executive management training is a fast growing field in adult training and an important component of a wider demand for reconstruction in the educational system and its orientation towards a closer relationship with the needs of the labour market and the priorities of the business environment. This study investigates the development achieved in this field in Greece from the initial efforts made by the Greek Productivity Centre, the Hellenic Management Association and the Athens University of Economics and Business in the beginning of the 1960s up to today’s development of recognized vocational training programmes and the contribution of Executive MBAs by modern educational organizations, as well as, by both Greek and foreign Business Schools operating in this field. In particular, this study examines the structure and the content of short-term in-company seminars, open courses and long-term courses leading to Certificates, Diplomas or Master’s Degrees and the efforts of introducing distance learning. The Hellenic Management Association, which is the most reliable management training establishment, is the major case study of the research. In addition, the contributing factors in the provision of training services, such as the process of designing, organising, implementing and evaluating the courses, are also analyzed together with modern training methods and techniques, trainers’ specialization and qualifications, the attitude adopted by companies and the role of the State and supervisory organizations. The study involves a team of trainers who propose some changes with a view to improving their work and the overall efficiency of training through action research. In addition, it examines the conditions of developing a model programme leading to an Advanced Diploma in Management, which is designed for executives who are already on the “management threshold” on their way to being promoted to higher managers. In conclusion, the study establishes a dynamic development in the field, supports the introduction of learner-centred methods and training technologies and makes proposals for improvement and better organisation. A 514 pages book on “The Art of Management” is an outcome of the project. It is published and delivered to the trainees of several training programmes

Street Politics in the Age of Austerity

The past few years have seen an unexpected resurgence of street-level protest movements around the world, from the uprisings of the Arab Spring to the rise of the anti-austerity Indignados in Spain and Greece to the global spread of the Occupy movement. This collection is designed to offer a comparative analysis of these movements, setting them in international, socio-economic, and cross-cultural perspective in order to help us understand why movements emerge, what they do, how they spread, and how they fit into both local and worldwide historical contexts. As the most significant wave of mass protests in decades continues apace, this book offers an authoritative analysis that could not be more timely

Ethics and taxation : a cross-national comparison of UK and Turkish firms

This paper investigates responses to tax related ethical issues facing busines

An aesthetic for sustainable interactions in product-service systems?

Copyright @ 2012 Greenleaf PublishingEco-efficient Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability. However the application of this concept is still very limited because its implementation and diffusion is hindered by several barriers (cultural, corporate and regulative ones). The paper investigates the barriers that affect the attractiveness and acceptation of eco-efficient PSS alternatives, and opens the debate on the aesthetic of eco-efficient PSS, and the way in which aesthetic could enhance some specific inner qualities of this kinds of innovations. Integrating insights from semiotics, the paper outlines some first research hypothesis on how the aesthetic elements of an eco-efficient PSS could facilitate user attraction, acceptation and satisfaction