What Next for Chaos Theory? From Metaphor to Phase Space

In the management and social sciences literature, chaos theory has been used primarily as a metaphor to understand organizational phenomena. Using metaphors to understand organizations is a novel idea that has gained much acceptance, thanks to the pioneering work of Morgan (1986). However, chaos theory\u27s value as a metaphor has been overused and offers little that cannot already be explained using existing theories and frameworks. Because chaos theory is a mathematical theory, we believe its mathematical principles offer the greatest application to the management literature. In this paper, we offer the use of phase space, a tool of chaos theory, as a way to analyze firm performance

In Pursuit of Crisis Readiness: An Examination of Managerial Characteristics, Firm Size, Industry Domain and Strategic Type within the Miles and Snow Framework

A crisis refers to an unpredictable event that can seriously threaten an organization. Crisis readiness is an integral part of the crisis management process and refers to the level of preparedness an organization possesses in response to a potential catastrophic event. Findings from a survey of 275 managers in the United States revealed that top managers with production/engineering and general management backgrounds reported higher degrees of crisis readiness capabilities than did their counterparts with other backgrounds. Likewise, higher levels of crisis readiness were reported in larger, manufacturing organizations than in smaller, service organizations

Howard Johnson\u27s: Rise and Fall of an American Icon

The Howard Johnson’s restaurant chain was one of the first franchise success stories in the United States. Climbing in size to be over 1,000 restaurants, the chain today boasts fewer than 30 units. How could such a successful company spiral downward to virtually nothing? This article examines the history of the chain and offers reasons for its success and demise

Crisis Planning in the Nonprofit Sector: Should We Plan for Something Bad If It May Not Occur?

John E. Spillan, Ph.D., assistant professor of business administration, The Pennsylvania State University-DuBois Campus, DuBois, PA 15801. William Rick Crandall, Ph.D., is associate professor of management, Division of Business & Economics, Concord College, Athens, WV 24712

Putting it in Writing: Examining the Link between Higher Education Institution Performance Rankings, Best Places to Work, and Emphasis on Human Resources in Mission Statements

This study examined at the content of vision statements, mission statements, and strategic plans for three groups of higher education institutions (HEIs). The focus of this analysis was to determine if an emphasis on the interests and welfare of employees was included in these statements. In addition, the Top 100 Best Colleges from the 2012 U.S. News & World Report rankings were compared to a random selection of HEIs. The results indicate that the externally ranked schools had a higher number of statements highlighting the welfare of their workforce in their strategic documents, thus affirming the importance of employees

The Impact of Organizational Capabilities, Environmental Uncertainties, and Generic Strategies on Crisis Readiness: An Empirical Examination of Retail Professionals

This paper examined the factors—organizational capabilities, environmental uncertainties, and generic strategies—that potentially contribute to an organization’s crisis readiness. A survey of 277 retail professionals indicated that those companies that display a high level of crisis readiness follow a differentiation generic strategy and had higher levels of supply chain capabilities. Companies that pursued a cost leadership generic strategy displayed lower levels of crisis readiness. Implications for researchers and managers are offered

New Frontiers in Management Research: The Case For Industrial Archeology

Management scholars traditionally rely on the review of journals and empirical data for information used in research projects and in the classroom. However, there is also a vast amount of material that remains virtually untapped by many management researchers - the artifacts, pictures, and remains of industrial and commercial organizations. Industrial archeologists specialize in studying organizational life, particularly, the life of manufacturing facilities, by examining of empirical data, as well as pictures, records, internal and external correspondence, other printed materials, and artifacts. This article delineates how management scholars can also take advantage of the wealth of secondary material that exists by integrating an industrial archeological perspective into their teaching and research programs

The psychological structure of leisure : activities, needs, people / BEBR No.319

Includes bibliographical references (leaves [18-19])

Regulating Emissions of Greenhouse Gases Under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act

The authors consider whether the Environmental Protection Agency's denial of the petition to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases from motor vehicles under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act was reasonable in light of the global nature of greenhouse gas emissions and the likely superiority of other methods for combating greenhouse gases.Environment, Health and Safety, Regulatory Reform, Other Topics

Crisis Management and Sustainable Development: A Framework and Proposed Research Agenda

The fields of crisis management and sustainable development have maintained separate research paths. However, these fields are closely linked. Crisis events can deplete resources needed by future generations, ultimately hindering efforts at sustainable development. This paper proposes a research agenda and provides a four-phase framework that integrates these two growing research field