Man management : Ironies of modern management in an "old" university

As the broad economic transformations of the post-industrialized era gather pace, so the requirement for contemporary organizations to become ever more “flexible�? and responsive to the demands of diverse and fast-changing markets has increased. The collapse of large-scale bureaucratic hierarchies and the consequent restructuring, decentralization and delayering of managerial jobs has been accompanied by new forms of work and new practices of managerial control. Whether it be in the guise of the “flexible firm�? (Atkinson 1984), “flexible specialization�? (Piore and Sabel 1984), total quality management (TQM) (Deming 1986), business process reengineering (Hammer and Champy 1993) orthe “virtual organization�? (Chesbrough and Teece 1996), this emergent managerial phenomenon has found a resonance across numerous private-sector sites. Concomitant with the dissolution of rigid vertical lines of control, new so-called “leaner�? structures have emerged, informed and framed by the specialisms and discourses of this “new managerialism�?. Drawing on the rhetoric of empowerment, participation, trust and mutuality (Kerfoot and Knights 1995), the modernorganization increasingly invests its survival and productive potential in the legions of project groups, multi-function work groups and forms of team-working that characterize the “flexible�? corporation

Between representations and subjectivity : Gender binaries and the politics of organizational transformation

The distinction between male and female and masculinity and femininity continues to polarize relations between the sexes in ways that generally subordinate, marginalize, or undermine women with respect to men. The gender literature has recently challenged the singular and unitary conception of gender identity, arguing that there are a multiplicity of masculinities and femininities that are often fragile, fragmented and fluid. Despite this, the binary relationship between men and women continues to obstruct the development of sexual equality. This article is concerned with focusing critically on this binary and, in particular, its association with hierarchy, where men dominate women and masculinity assigns to femininity a marginal or 'Other' inferior status. It suggests that hierarchy is a condition and consequence of the reification of the binary that is difficult to challenge from within a representational epistemology that continues to dominate even studies of gender, let alone social science more generally. Deconstructing the gender binary is simply to challenge the reification of the terms wherein the divisions between male and female, masculine and feminine or men and women are treated as absolute and unchanging. The article examines conceptions of masculinity and the debate between Foucauldian and anti-Foucauldian feminists as a basis for developing its argument. It then concludes that gender analysis can only deconstruct the hierarchical content of the gender binary by disrupting masculine hegemony at work. One way of facilitating this is temporarily to occupy a space between representations of gender and the conditions of subjectivity and language that make them possible

PLANNING FOR PERSONNEL?‐HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT RECONSIDERED

This article provides an in‐depth case study of a UK mutual life insurance company with the pseudonym Pensco. The case is presented partly to illustrate some theoretical and empirical weaknesses within the managerialist literatures on human resource management (HRM), and in those academic critiques which perceive it to be all ‘hype’and no substance. Our concern is not with the questin of whether Pensco ‘fits’an HRM model, but with examining changes in management practice, their effects on the nature of management control and the growth of self‐discipline throughout the company's hierarchy. Focusing on two management techniques regarding the development of ‘team’spirit among company employees, we see these changes as coinciding with the emergence of a language, if not directly the practice, of HRM which has come to pervade management in this and other contemporary organizations

A little healthy competition: using mixed methods to pilot a team-based digital game for boosting medical student engagement with anatomy and histology content

Background: Digital games have been demonstrated to be beneficial for a range of non-recreational purposes, with a particular focus on their value for education. There is a limited amount of research supporting their use for medical education, but their are several studies on their use in areas such as surgical training, and life-support re-training. However, a significant gap exists in demonstrating how they engage with learners and games can be used most effectively in medical education. This pilot study assessed the value of digital games for teaching anatomy, by evaluating participant engagement and their attitudes towards a team-based strategy game. Methods: A digital game platform was designed, and then populated with anatomy questions developed by subject matter experts. Second year medical students were recruited to play three matches of the game. At the end of each match participants were asked to complete a Likert rating of their experiences of the game across five domains. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to assess engagement with the platform and perceived value to learners. Results: Sixteen participants volunteered to participate. Post-match ratings indicated that participants had a generally positive experience with the game, with 89 % of respondents agreeing the game was engaging, 93 % of respondents agreeing the game was challenging and 74 % indicating they would like to play the game again if given the opportunity. A total of fourteen participants agreed to be interviewed after playing three matches of the game. Interview responses supported the findings of the post-match ratings that the game was considered enjoyable and engaging. Participants noted they particularly enjoyed the competitive aspect of the game, particularly the opportunity to play against peers they consider their academic equals. In addition to finding the game engaging interview participants indicated they perceived the game impacted on their knowledge around anatomy. In particular, participants noted that the game provided them unique insight into their knowledge strengths and deficits. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that digital games can engage medical students in traditionally-challenging areas such as anatomy and offer learners unique insights into their knowledge strengths and deficits

Gay men at work: (re)constructing the self as professional

This article is a study of professional identity work, using in-depth interview material from research conducted into the work lives of 10 gay men employed in a UK National Health Service Trust. Using the men's portraits of professional life, we examine the different ways they understand what it means to be a `professional'. The article suggests that while gay men appear to be empowered by forms of agency to self-identify as professionals in `gay-friendly' work contexts, they are by no means unaffected by dominant professional norms and discourses of heteronormativity that treat sexuality and professionalism as polar opposites. Thus how straightforward it might be for the interviewees to self-identify as `professional' and openly gay within an organization that is perceived to be `gay-friendly' is scrutinized in terms of the professional identity dilemmas experienced by the study participants. We conclude that, even within `gay friendly' organizational settings, fashioning a professional identity is a process marked by negotiation and struggle