Lost in time and space: temporal and spatial challenges facing older workers in a global economy from a career capital perspective

This paper develops a conceptual framework to enhance our understanding of the career challenges facing older workers in a global economy. A distinction between ‘high’ and ‘low’ career capital of older workers is made. This distinction is then used to highlight potential temporal and spatial challenges for older workers in their later life careers. We draw on empirical evidence from existing studies of older workers and their careers. The contribution of this paper to human resource management debates is threefold. Firstly, we contribute to debates in the HRM(Human Resource Management) literature about intelligent careers and career capital by distinguishing between high and low career capital to explain the polarisation of older workers’ careers. Secondly, we synthesise career capital issues with spatial and temporal aspects of international labour markets to conceptualise the key issues and challenges which create potential boundaries for older workers when navigating later life careers thereby contributing to ‘boundary-focused scholarship’ (Inkson, K., Gunz, H., Ganesh, S., & Roper, J. (2012). Boundaryless careers; Bringing back boundaries, Organization Studies, 33, 323–340). Finally, we develop a series of propositions to provide a basis for further research into the issues of space and time relevant to older ‘high’ and ‘low’ career capital workers, their careers and HRM

Ideas work: a study of learning in network contexts: the case of the UK television industry

A growing literature contends that organisational learning is a source of competitive advantage for firms seeking to adapt their strategies to rapidly changing environments. The 21st Century as the age of learning organisations and knowledge work is an inspiring vision. However, much of the existing organisational learning literature assumes that the locus for learning is within neatly bounded firms. Less appears to be known about the learning issues facing firms that are reliant on external relationships with mobile, contract labour, suppliers and customers. This thesis focuses on learning and knowledge development in the UK television production industry. An industry where ideas realisation occurs across firm divides, in flexible production networks of core employees and freelance knowledge workers. A conceptual tool, The Knowledge Chain, is developed, herein, to highlight the key learning processes arising in such fluid, network production contexts. It is contended, herein, that the network arrangements used to organise production in the UK television industry raise challenges for firms seeking the control of knowledge resources. Indeed, attempts to codify the wide array of knowledge, on which network production builds, may be a futile exercise that squanders scarce resources. However, this thesis suggests that firms operating across such networks can still profit from the learning of a wide array of external production partners by building strategic learning relationships and effective learning contexts that facilitate knowledge sharing, application and development drawing on many more brains than a firm could afford to employ. Facilitating learning relationships with external partners can bring strategic benefits including leveraged learning to outpace competitors, and insurance against strategic myopia and the intra-firm insularity of group-think. Nevertheless, when key workers are not internal employees and production defies firm boundaries, profiting from learning becomes a more complex relational and contextual challenge than much of the existing literature implies. [N.B. Electronic version excludes table 2.1, fig. 2.3, fig. 3.1, fig. 5.1, fig. 5.2, fig. 5.4, App. H, App. I, App. J

Ideas work: a study of learning in network contexts: the case of the UK television industry

A growing literature contends that organisational learning is a source of competitive advantage for firms seeking to adapt their strategies to rapidly changing environments. The 21st Century as the age of learning organisations and knowledge work is an inspiring vision. However, much of the existing organisational learning literature assumes that the locus for learning is within neatly bounded firms. Less appears to be known about the learning issues facing firms that are reliant on external relationships with mobile, contract labour, suppliers and customers. This thesis focuses on learning and knowledge development in the UK television production industry. An industry where ideas realisation occurs across firm divides, in flexible production networks of core employees and freelance knowledge workers. A conceptual tool, The Knowledge Chain, is developed, herein, to highlight the key learning processes arising in such fluid, network production contexts. It is contended, herein, that the network arrangements used to organise production in the UK television industry raise challenges for firms seeking the control of knowledge resources. Indeed, attempts to codify the wide array of knowledge, on which network production builds, may be a futile exercise that squanders scarce resources. However, this thesis suggests that firms operating across such networks can still profit from the learning of a wide array of external production partners by building strategic learning relationships and effective learning contexts that facilitate knowledge sharing, application and development drawing on many more brains than a firm could afford to employ. Facilitating learning relationships with external partners can bring strategic benefits including leveraged learning to outpace competitors, and insurance against strategic myopia and the intra-firm insularity of group-think. Nevertheless, when key workers are not internal employees and production defies firm boundaries, profiting from learning becomes a more complex relational and contextual challenge than much of the existing literature implies. [N.B. Electronic version excludes table 2.1, fig. 2.3, fig. 3.1, fig. 5.1, fig. 5.2, fig. 5.4, App. H, App. I, App. J

Ideas work: a study of learning in network contexts: the case of the UK television industry

A growing literature contends that organisational learning is a source of competitive advantage for firms seeking to adapt their strategies to rapidly changing environments. The 21st Century as the age of learning organisations and knowledge work is an inspiring vision. However, much of the existing organisational learning literature assumes that the locus for learning is within neatly bounded firms. Less appears to be known about the learning issues facing firms that are reliant on external relationships with mobile, contract labour, suppliers and customers. This thesis focuses on learning and knowledge development in the UK television production industry. An industry where ideas realisation occurs across firm divides, in flexible production networks of core employees and freelance knowledge workers. A conceptual tool, The Knowledge Chain, is developed, herein, to highlight the key learning processes arising in such fluid, network production contexts. It is contended, herein, that the network arrangements used to organise production in the UK television industry raise challenges for firms seeking the control of knowledge resources. Indeed, attempts to codify the wide array of knowledge, on which network production builds, may be a futile exercise that squanders scarce resources. However, this thesis suggests that firms operating across such networks can still profit from the learning of a wide array of external production partners by building strategic learning relationships and effective learning contexts that facilitate knowledge sharing, application and development drawing on many more brains than a firm could afford to employ. Facilitating learning relationships with external partners can bring strategic benefits including leveraged learning to outpace competitors, and insurance against strategic myopia and the intra-firm insularity of group-think. Nevertheless, when key workers are not internal employees and production defies firm boundaries, profiting from learning becomes a more complex relational and contextual challenge than much of the existing literature implies. [N.B. Electronic version excludes table 2.1, fig. 2.3, fig. 3.1, fig. 5.1, fig. 5.2, fig. 5.4, App. H, App. I, App. J

The impact of business schools: increasing the range of strategic choices

The notion of impact is becoming important for international business schools, which are under increasing pressures related to their legitimacy. Although the term impact has gained in popularity, common approaches to business school impact rely either on academic publications or alumni’s salaries. To help uncover the potential for other approaches, we develop a conceptual framework as a basis for studying business school impact. The pluralism of approaches in terms of business school impact opens new spaces for original strategic choices, therefore limiting pressures for organizational isomorphism. Nevertheless, the notion of impact also has some limitations that need to be considered

Erratum: Corrigendum: Sequence and comparative analysis of the chicken genome provide unique perspectives on vertebrate evolution

International Chicken Genome Sequencing Consortium. The Original Article was published on 09 December 2004. Nature432, 695–716 (2004). In Table 5 of this Article, the last four values listed in the ‘Copy number’ column were incorrect. These should be: LTR elements, 30,000; DNA transposons, 20,000; simple repeats, 140,000; and satellites, 4,000. These errors do not affect any of the conclusions in our paper. Additional information. The online version of the original article can be found at 10.1038/nature0315

Embedding Employability into a Classics Curriculum::The Classical Civilisation Bachelor of Arts programme at Roehampton University

Employability has become a global buzz-word: instructors in higher education are increasingly being called upon to produce highly employable students who will in turn contribute to the financial capital of the country’s economy. For vocational subjects and degrees for which clear links to industry may be envisaged (such as IT, Business, Technology and Science) the challenge is surmountable. However, it remains for non-vocational subjects, and especially degree programmes in the Arts and Humanities, to prove their merit in this demand-based climate. While sceptics may be worried that endeavours to adapt an academic discipline to the needs of economic utility may effectively dilute the academic content of a degree programme, this article suggests that this need not be the case. By focusing on modules which utilize non-traditional forms of assessment and delivery, the article will demonstrate that embedding employability can actually enhance academic standards while simultaneously offering students a broader choice of learning and teaching experiences. </jats:p