Humdrum Tasks of the Salaried Men: Edwin Williams a LCC architect at war

Working at the London County Council Architect’s Department through the 1930s to 1950s, known (if at all) as a member of the design team for the Royal Festival Hall, Edwin Williams is usually presented as a regressive figure, his design work marked by his beaux-arts training. Using archival evidence and histories of the construction industry, this paper sets out Williams’s role in the organisation of rescue and recovery services in London during the Second World War. The paper argues that, through his development of training schools and curricula for Rescue Service personnel, Williams played a key role in the formation of a skilled, mechanised, modern demolition industry. Operating complex emergency projects under extreme conditions, the same contractors and building operatives trained in Williams’s programme were later responsible for the clearance of bomb damaged sites and slums. This paper suggests that certain developments in modern architecture can be considered as contingent upon practices of the demolition industry as developed by Williams. By concentrating on the ‘organisation’ and ‘progress’ of production that architects engaged with during the Second World War and after, new configurations of continuity and change emerge in which the ‘humdrum tasks’ of ‘salaried-men’ appear crucial

Social Condensation in the Metropole: Locating the First New Left

From 1956 to 1962 the ‘first’ New Left in Britain made radical critical interventions on the politics and culture of the welfare state. Typically, the work of the leading intellectuals in this movement—including Stuart Hall, Raphael Samuel, Edward Thompson, and Raymond Williams—has been understood as part of an intellectual history—either of Marxism or cultural studies. I argue that it is better to understand the New Left in Britain as a practical political and cultural project, intervening in and productive of specific kinds of spatial environment. To develop this argument, two examples of such spaces are examined—The Partisan coffee house, established in 1959 by Raphael Samuel as an ‘anti-expresso bar’, and the Secondary Modern school and streets of south London, where Stuart Hall worked as a supply teacher. The former site is understood as a ‘milieu’, the latter as a ‘concentration’ in the contested metropole of London. Throughout, a question over the determinate relation of art to society is raised, with implications for political analysis and action

On Site

Contemporary debates on the transformation of building methods, the structure of the building industry, and the introduction of new technologies (informational, material and structural) in professional literature and in the architectural humanities tend to ignore the realities of work on construction sites. This follows a long history of failure to recognise the importance of workers’ experience and knowledge of building as a process by the key professions in the industry. The absence of the working process in accounts of historical development is exacerbated by abstract reflection on building know-how, categories of expertise, and the structure of the industry, when these are not supported by direct observation and engagement with building work and workers. Key assumptions about the relation between structural and technological changes in the industry and the knowledge, skills, composition, and requirements of the workforce can be challenged by paying attention to day-to-day activities and conditions of site work

Overcoming change fatigue: lessons from Glasgow's National Health Service

Structured Abstract Purpose of this paper This paper explores the practicalities of organizational change in complex settings where much change has already occurred. It therefore offers insights into tackling and overcoming change fatigue. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a longitudinal study of change within a healthcare organization. The paper draws on interviews, focus groups and observations during a 2.5 year long action research project. Findings The paper reports findings on the speed at which change takes place, the importance of communication and the burden placed on senior officers during such communication and consultation processes, the use of appropriate external resources and expertise, the benefits of sharing best practice across sectors and the role of academic researchers in change processes. What is original/value of paper The paper offers valuable insights to those charged with effecting organizational change in change fatigued settings

'But I thought we were friends?' Life cycles and research relationships

This chapter is concerned with a relatively under-explored aspect of ‘engaged research’ – the nature of friendship relations between researchers and practitioners, and the ethical dilemmas that arise in such relationships. Attention has been paid to the relational aspects of research in the methodology literature, but this chapter focuses more closely on friendship in particular. The chapter is framed around two guiding concerns: how do friendships, formed in and around research, change over time; and in view of friendship conceived in this dynamic fashion, what ethical questions and dilemmas arise for the ‘friends’

Speaking Right: HRDs Role in Mediating Good Boardroom Conversations

Purpose This paper aims to explore the impact discourse has on decision making practices within the boardroom and considers how personal proficiency in micro-language use can enhance an individual’s personal efficacy in influencing boardroom decisions. The work uses Habermas’ theory of communicative action to critique board talk, highlighting the need for greater understanding of the power of everyday taken for granted talk in strategy shaping. It illuminates the contribution that human resource development (HRD) professionals can make to the management of such behaviour and minimising dysfunctional behaviour and enabling effective boardroom practices. Design/methodology/approach Traditional governance theory from a business and organisational perspectives are provided before considering the boardroom environment and HRD’s role. The authors undertake ethnographic research supported by conversation analysis to explore how directors use talk-based interpersonal routines to influence boardroom processes and enact collective decision making. The authors provide one extract of directors’ talk to illustrate the process and demonstrate what the data “looks like” and the insights it holds. Findings The analysis suggests that the established underlying assumptions and rationale ideologies of corporate governance are misplaced and to understand the workings of corporate governance HRD academics and professionals need to gain deeper insight into the employment of talk within boards. Armed with such insights HRD professionals can become more effective in developing strategies to address dysfunctional leadership and promote good governance practice throughout their organisation. Social implications The work raises a call for HRD to embrace a societal mediation role to help boards to become a catalyst for setting good practice which is strategically aligned throughout the organisation. Such roles require a more dialogical, strategic and critical approach to HRD, and professionals and academics take a more holistic approach to leadership development. Originality/value The paper considers the role of the development of HRD interventions that both help individuals to work more effectively within a boardroom environment and support development to shape a boardroom culture that promotes effective governance practice by influencing boardroom practice thereby promoting strong governance and broad social compliance throughout the organisation

“That's bang out of order, mate!”: Gendered and racialized micro‐practices of disadvantage and privilege in UK business schools

The existence of gendered and racialized inequalities in academia has been well documented. To date, research has primarily addressed the intersectional disadvantages faced by members of minority groups with much less attention paid to the privileges experienced by dominant group members. This paper draws on 21 interviews and 36 audio‐diary entries completed by a diverse group of senior higher education leaders who have successfully navigated the career ladder in UK business schools. By juxtaposing minority with dominant group members' narratives, the study advances intersectionality research, offering a contextualized analysis of the micro‐practices of both disadvantage and privilege in academia. Through a focus on how micro‐practices perform differently for members of different groups, it foregrounds “obvious” as well as nuanced differences that contribute to the accumulation of disadvantage and privilege throughout an individual's career and emphasizes simultaneity as crucial to understanding the workings of gendered and racialized disadvantage and privilege

Learning from difference and similarity: identities and relational reflexive learning

Within organizations there is reciprocal interplay between identity construction and learning. Processes of learning are enabled and constrained by identity practices; concomitantly, the possibilities for learning are shaped by the identity positions available to individuals. There is a dynamic between the impositions of organizations and people’s freedom to shape their identities and learning plays a crucial role in this. Our purpose in this special issue is to contribute to the understanding of the intersection of identity work and learning as a response to experiences of being different. Experiences of difference include moving into a new role, encountering a disjuncture with others while in a role or a difference in broader life which is reacted to as if it were a problem in an organizational setting. Being different produces a variety of challenges and the papers in this special issue trace how people cope with vulnerabilities, develop resilience and often collaborate in their learning. We focus on how people reflect on their own identity and learn and how, by learning together with people who have similar experiences, micro-communities can support, develop and enhance their insight and identity-positions

Using simulation to develop business strategy skills of entrepreneurs - Some reflections on a pilot

It is recognized that the value of entrepreneurship education and the recruitment of practising entrepreneurs for such learning programmes can be problematic. This raises an important and challenging issue for universities when they are increasingly being asked to develop the leadership and management capabilities of entrepreneurs. In this account of practice, the authors explore the role for business simulation in the development of existing entrepreneurs’ and small business leaders’ strategic decision-making skills. The article describes and reflects on a pilot business simulation course, considering the challenges in the planning, the engagement of entrepreneurs and the delivery of the programme. It provides insights into the value of introducing this form of learning experience and exposes the significant challenges associated with engaging small business leaders

The corridor of our school: the development of a practice appropriate to the study of everyday space.

Interest in the "everyday" within the arts and humanities is almost as ubiquitous as the subject itself. For some time now it has been not only unsurprising, but positively expected that research be conducted into the apparently banal activities and effects of the everyday world. Architectural history and theory does not fall behind in this development. However, just as our everyday lives are diffuse and various, so too are the aims and approaches of those who study it. In this introduction I hope to offer a concise view of some works that have been influential in the development of the report. It is not my intention to investigate the cited works in full, but only to "flag" them for attention. This "flagging," or laying down of markers, will continue throughout the report. I begin with those works that have influenced the conception of the everyday in this report in the broadest terms. So - Sigmund Freud, Henri Lefebvre and various feminist writers have predominantly offered an historical and conceptual bracket (1901 - 1986) to the report. I then discuss the influence of Walter Benjamin, Michel de Certeau and Jane Rendell in terms of the development of a practice appropriate to the study of everyday life. Before beginning the report proper, I discuss issues arising from the choice of "subject" - the corridor of Wates House