Julia\u27s Dilemna

Julia, a professional woman in her mid-thirties, has had relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis as a part of her life for the last five years. Now she must decide whether to disclose her hidden illness at work. Julia disclosed her illness to her manager in a prior employment, when her MS was first diagnosed, and experienced a supportive response. But she was always mindful that her performance would likely be carefully scrutinized since she was in a job that required strict deadlines. Julia made a career change about a year ago, and did not tell anyone in her new organization that she had MS. She avoided the issue during the hiring process, and deliberately refrained from informing her manager during her probationary period. She made lifestyle and workplace accommodations on her own to compensate for her disability. She was concerned about confidentiality and others’ perceptions of her as a person with a disability. Julia’s current decision was precipitated by changes in her health care coverage. Access to expensive drugs was a key factor in managing her illness, and she needed information in order to make her decision. This impending decision made her think again about whether she should disclose her illness, and to whom. Others who will be immediately impacted by her decision include her manager, coworkers and friends at work, human resource professionals, and her husband

Nonprofit Organizations: An Introduction to Charity Rating Sources and Cautions in Their Use

We describe services that rate the performance of charitable organizations in the United States as a potential source of data for comparisons by donors and may be of interest and use to researchers. Such services have the potential to be considered as a surrogate for quality metrics in the nonprofit sector. The three services considered, The American Institute of Philanthropy, Charity Navigator, and the Wise Giving Alliance of the Better Business Bureau, create different rating schemes. Statistical analyses of a dataset comprised of charities in the Nonprofit Times Top 100 clarify points of similarity and difference among the services. We conclude with several cautions for researchers interested in pursuing further research in this area

Julia\u27s Dilemma

Julia, a professional woman in her mid-thirties, has had relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis as a part of her life for the last five years. Now she must decide whether to disclose her hidden illness at work. Julia disclosed her illness to her manager in a prior employment, when her MS was first diagnosed, and experienced a supportive response. But she was always mindful that her performance would likely be carefully scrutinized since she was in a job that required strict deadlines. Julia made a career change about a year ago, and did not tell anyone in her new organization that she had MS. She avoided the issue during the hiring process, and deliberately refrained from informing her manager during her probationary period. She made lifestyle and workplace accommodations on her own to compensate for her disability. She was concerned about confidentiality and others’ perceptions of her as a person with a disability. Julia’s current decision was precipitated by changes in her health care coverage. Access to expensive drugs was a key factor in managing her illness, and she needed information in order to make her decision. This impending decision made her think again about whether she should disclose her illness, and to whom. Others who will be immediately impacted by her decision include her manager, coworkers and friends at work, human resource professionals, and her husband

Temporal Spans in Talk: Doing Consistency to Construct Fair Organization

It is generally understood that time, among its other aspects, is a resource in organizational life. In this paper, we take an interpretive perspective to this notion by considering temporality as a verbal resource in the work of organizing. We introduce the concept of \u27temporal span\u27 and discuss the ways in which temporal spans serve to establish consistency as an ongoing attribute of organizational reality. Empirical examples drawn from an ethnomethodological study of human resource managers demonstrate interactions during which these managers invoke temporal spans to construct \u27fair organization\u27. We discuss the use of temporality as a verbal resource with respect to the interactional practices of human resource managers and the quality of consistency in organizational iife

Irony and Organizations: Epistemological Claims and Supporting Field Stories

Irony, in the writings of these scholars from different parts of the world, demonstrates once again that what we know is tenuous and at the same time closely intertwined with how we know and represent that knowledge. And while each chapter approaches irony from a slightly different angle, they share a common assumption - that irony can be used to enhance practice

Making Sense of Late Academic Careers: Stories, Images, and Reflections

Four late-career academics take a “first person” view of their careers over time, using written autobiographies. These stories were coded for common phases, themes, and tensions, retold as narratives, reimagined as metaphors, and recreated as visual stories. A brief overview of relevant career theory and identity theory is presented, and various activities undertaken during the self-discovery process are described and linked to storytelling or narrative theory. Interpretation focuses on similarities and differences in the four late academic careers and identity work during role transitions. Connections are made to career theory and identity theory. The authors believe this article might serve as a catalyst to others wondering about their careers, their identities, and future possibilities

Starting with Howard Gardner’s five minds, adding Elliott Jaques’s responsibility time span: implications for undergraduate management education

This article offers a perspective on management education derived from Howard Gardner’s five minds framework and Elliott Jaques’s responsibility time span. We describe the five minds (disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful, and ethical) and discuss some of the criticisms raised about Gardner’s approach. We introduce Jaques’s time span concept and suggest its applicability to the structuring of roles in a school of management. Putting Jacques together with Gardner allows us to explore questions about the five minds that could be addressed by deans, department chairs, and faculty members, each with a different responsibility time span

Irony-- Its Use and Potential in Organization Theory

In this chapter we take different discourses in which irony plays a predominant role and link them to organization theory. Irony, while not often used in organization theory, has connections to different scholarly traditions where it plays a recognized role, in particular, literary theory and philosophy. We start with a lexical examination of the word irony. Then we dip into the literary discourse, looking for facets of irony that may play out in the organizational realm. We thereafter introduce some philosophers who may help us connect irony and organizing in new ways. Finally we provide a literature review of research linking irony and organizations, and reflect upon the possibilities that irony opens up for organizational research(ers). We characterize three distinct uses of irony that we find useful for organization theory: irony as a preservative device, irony as a destabilizing device, and irony as a liberating device

Dramas of Teamwork Training: Ironies of Canned and Structured Programs

In this chapter we examine the practice of teamwork in a manufacturing company and the introduction of canned and structured teamwork training through an ironic lens. The empirical material, drawn from an ethnographic study, is presented as a narrative with three episodes. The ironic perspective enables us to demonstrate the situational irony of the training program that turned out to be counterproductive to teamwork. We show how the workers in this ironic situation used verbal irony in order to cope with the managerial discourse and their own reality - and how irony helped them get the daily work done. We also claim that irony allows us to critique the consultants\u27 work while remaining sympathetic towards the consultants themselves

SnugAdapt: Organizational Change Initiatives

This disguised case describes actions taken at SnugAdapt, a mid-sized manufacturing firm, to increase quality and to address problems with worker morale. The case is presented in three parts in order to provide multiple decision points and increasing amounts of information about change efforts in the organization. Part A provides a general background on the company and management’s desire for change to solve multiple, ill-defined problems. A consultant has been brought in to provide a training session on a quality-based teamwork program, and the decision facing the president and his executive team is how to provide leadership for implementing the program. Part B describes decisions made by the executive team and actions taken to begin implementation. Part C follows the change initiative for six months. At the end of this time, the company president is asked by his superior to evaluate the success of the program and make additional recommendations for change