Living with contradictions: the dynamics of senior managers in relation to sustainability

In this article, we investigate how senior managers located in Northern Europe in the energy and power industry coordinate their recognition of sustainability challenges with other things they say and do. Identity theory is used to examine the fine-grained work through which the managers navigate identities and potentially competing narratives. In contrast with other studies we find that pursuing cohering identities and resolving potential tensions and contradictions does not appear to matter for most of the managers. We explore the dynamics of how managers live with apparent contradictions and tensions without threat to their narrative coherence. We extend existing research into managerial identities and sustainability by: showing how managers combine different potentially contrasting identity types; identifying nine discursive processes through which the majority of managers distance and deflect sustainability issues away from themselves and their companies; and, showing the contrasting identity dynamics in the case of one manager to whom narrative coherence becomes important and prompts alternative action

Understanding sustainability through the lens of ecocentric radical-re?exivity : implications for management education

This paper seeks to contribute to the debate around sustainability by proposing the need for an ecocentric stance to sustainability that reflexively embeds humans in—rather than detached from—nature. We argue that this requires a different way of thinking about our relationship with our world, necessitating a (re)engagement with the sociomaterial world in which we live. We develop the notion of ecocentrism by drawing on insights from sociomateriality studies, and show how radical-reflexivity enables us to appreciate our embeddedness and responsibility for sustainability by bringing attention to the interrelationship between values, actions and our social and material world. We examine the implications of an ecocentric radically reflexive approach to sustainability for management education

Organisational change and the individual

Organizations and change are pervasive features of modern life, and organizational changes, whether intended or not, are becoming increasingly frequent. Despite its practical significance the field of organizational change lacks widely accepted theories aimed either at the academic observer or the participant in change, which explain what it is and how it takes place. This thesis attempts to develop an understanding of the nature and dynamics of organizational change from both perspectives. The thesis is divided into three main parts. The first part reviews some of the existing theories in the field, and proposes an alternative theory based on the notion of differential rates of change, and which distinguishes between descriptions and explanations of change. This is then elaborated through a review of the literature in the fields of organizational and individual change. The main theory, and ideas derived from it, are extended further and evaluated in the second and third parts of the thesis. Case studies are employed in the second part and survey data used in the third part; both are drawn from nurses facing major changes in a Group of National Health Service hospitals. A number of specific conclusions are reached about the ways change may be effected in organizations, and about the ways people may react to these changes. For instance, the examination of individual reactions to anticipated changes suggested two main areas of response. Affective attitudes towards the change were related most closely to judgements made about future patterns in the organization; whereas coping behaviour was more closely related to perceptions of existing patterns (and opportunities

Human factors specification for a machine tool scale reader

The length measuring devices on many machine tools must usually cover a large range while maintaining high accuracy for small incremental movements. Many machines use the operator as part of the measuring system, where he must assign numerals and carry out visual interpolation. This report attempts to define the preferrred characteristics of such indication systems in so far as they are influenced by the capabilities and limitations of the human operator. While no radical innovations are proposed, the principles underlying the design of scale readers have been examined as objectively as possible and recommendations substantiated by reference to relevant experiments

An evaluation of the British standard proposals for symbols on machine tool indicator plates

The work detailed in this report has been undertaken as part of a research project supported by the Machine Tool Industry Research Association on Ergonomics and Machine Tool Design. In an early research project report, some comments were offered on the Draft British Standard for Symbols for Machine Tool Indicator Plates, and the Director of M.T.I.R.A, invited the author to elaborate on these preliminary criticisms. Although finalisation of the British Standard was imminent, it was realised that it would be remiss if a research project specifically devoted to ergonomics and machine tool design did not make a detailed and constructive assessment of the proposed standard symbols

Ergonomics in machine tool design: second progress report on M.T.I.R.A. research project

This report is the second of a series of reports, to be issued every six months, describing the progress of a research project on ergonomics in relation to machine tool design. The report covers, in broad outline, the progress made, and some projects anticipated in the ensuing year. Separate detailed technical reports will be issued from time to time, as experimental and survey data become available. The progress reports are numbered in The College of Aeronautics Notes series. The first report, issued in October, 1962, is CoA Note 150, Part 1. The technical reports will also be numbered in the series

John Hill, Exotic Botany and the competitive world of eighteenth-century horticulture

Botany in the mid-eighteenth century was about much more than gathering medical simples or developing scholarly systematisations. The collection and classification of the vegetable world also depended on practical expertise, particularly concerning the preservation and cultivation of plants. Specimens could be conserved in herbaria, or through botanical illustrations, or, as I discuss here, as live plants grown in gardens. From his early position as Petre’s assistant gardener at Thorndon to his later work for Bute in developing Kew Gardens, John Hill’s life and works were grounded in this earthier dimension of botany. This chapter situates John Hill within the context of botany and horticulture in the mid-eighteenth century, focusing on questions of social status, competition and rivalry. Drawing evidence from Hill’s beautiful and rare book Exotic Botany (1759), I discuss his connections with a network of botanical gardeners and plant traders active in and around London, a green-fingered community that originated almost wholly from these lower social tiers. Seeking to understand how this community dealt with rivalry, I examine how gardeners and nurserymen responded to an increasingly competitive commercial scene. Hill operated within a world in which scholars and entrepreneurs might attempt to gain an edge on their rivals through deploying their intellect and their capacity for puffery. To what extent did gardeners and nurserymen engage with such methods? And was Hill’s trajectory really atypical compared with those in the wider botanico-horticultural community?PostprintNon peer reviewe

Management impacts on GHG emissions and yield for an organic soybean crop

"May 2014."Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Newell Kitchen.Includes vita.As demand for organically grown food increases, growing organic soybean can be profitable and also improve soil ecosystem services through sustainable agronomic practices. However, because most chemical inputs are restricted from organic agriculture, producers rely heavily on tillage for weed control, which in turn can be detrimental to soil health. The use of cover crops, which can be employed to suppress weed growth, may provide an alternative to tillage for sustaining yields. Compost can be used as a fertilizer for organic soybean, however the ideal rate is not always known. Agricultural land has been recognized as a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, however GHG release from soils may vary according to crop production strategies utilizing cover crops and compost. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of tillage, cover crop, and compost rate on yield and the soil release of two GHG, N2O and CO2, under an organic soybean cropping system grown on a Missouri claypan soil. A corn (Zea mays)-soybean (Glycine max)-wheat (Triticum aestivum) organic cropping system was initiated in 2012 at the University of Missouri Bradford Research Center near Columbia, MO using a randomized complete block, split-plot design with four replications. Each crop was investigated independently with tillage/cover crop combinations as the main plot treatment and compost rate for the split-plot treatment. Tillage/cover crop treatments included tilled without cover crop (Till), tilled with cover crop (TillCC), and no-till with cover crop (NTCC). Compost rates were based on soil-test phosphorous recommendations from the University of Missouri Soil Testing Laboratory. Compost treatments were 0, half the recommended rate (0.5RR), the recommended rate (RR), and 1.5 times the recommended rate (1.5RR). Gas samples were collected at least once a week during the 2012 and 2013 growing seasons, and several times in succession after significant events such as rain, irrigation, and cultivation. Neither tillagIncludes bibliographical references

A single chloroplast protein with latent activities of both N ADPH-dependent glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and phosphoribulokinase

AbstractAn algal chloroplast protein possessing latent NADPH-dependent glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and latent phosphoribulokinase activities has been purified. Both activities were stimulated by incubation with dithiothreitol and NADPH. The protein had subunit composition 8G6R and on activation depolymerized to discrete NADPH-dependent glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (4G) and phosphoribulokinase (2R). Similar depolymerization promoted by reduced thioredoxin could account for light-dependent activations of phosphoribulokinase and NADPH-dependent glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase observed in algae and higher plants