What it means to succeed? Managers' conceptions of career success

What is success for the manager?, asked the author of the study in an empirical survey from the executives of a big British telecommunications company. The answers led her to the conclusion that the earlier conceived „advancement plans“ are no longer sufficient to reflect the managers4 needs to advance and their visions. Managers think in terms of professional advancement rather than organisational and hierarchical rank

Access to Research Data: Addressing the Problem through Journal Data Sharing Policies

There is a growing consensus in the broader research community, including libraries and other information repositories, that sharing of research data is vital both for transparency and possible reuse. Logically the sharing should be in the form of data held in suitable repositories which is linked to effective access points such as library catalogues. The journals in which the research appears have a central role in this process. The JoRD Project atNottinghamUniversityinvestigated the current state of journal data sharing policies through a survey of sample titles, and explored the views and practices of stakeholders including the research community and its funders, publishers and editors. The project identified that although a percentage of journals did have a policy on data sharing, they were in a minority, and policies generally encouraged good practice rather than made it a firm requirement. Many of the policies examined had little to say on standardised formats for data, metadata, or the use of data repositories. If there is to be genuine data sharing, initiatives to encourage journals to set out policies that mandate sharing in well-specified and appropriate forms are essential

Research data sharing: developing a stakeholder-driven model for journal policies

The conclusions of research articles generally depend on bodies of data that cannot be included in the articles themselves. The sharing of this data is important for reasons of both transparency and possible reuse. Science, Technology and Medicine journals have an obvious role in facilitating sharing, but how they might do that is not yet clear. The Journal Research Data (JoRD) Project was a JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) funded feasibility study on the possible shape of a central service on journal research data policies. The objectives of the study included, amongst other considerations: to identify the current state of journal data sharing policies and to investigate the views and practices of stakeholders to data sharing. The project confirmed that a large percentage of journals do not have a policy on data sharing, and that there are inconsistencies between the traceable journal data sharing policies. Such a state leaves authors unsure of whether they should deposit data relating to articles and where and how to share that data. In the absence of a consolidated infrastructure for the easy sharing of data, a journal data sharing model policy was developed. The model policy was developed from comparing the quantitative information gathered from analysing existing journal data policies with qualitative data collected from the stakeholders concerned. This article summarises the information gathered, outlines the process by which the model was developed and presents the model journal data sharing policy in full

Research data sharing: developing a stakeholder-driven model for journal policies

The conclusions of research articles generally depend on bodies of data that cannot be included in the articles themselves. The sharing of this data is important for reasons of both transparency and possible reuse. Science, Technology and Medicine journals have an obvious role in facilitating sharing, but how they might do that is not yet clear. The Journal Research Data (JoRD) Project was a JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) funded feasibility study on the possible shape of a central service on journal research data policies. The objectives of the study included, amongst other considerations: to identify the current state of journal data sharing policies and to investigate the views and practices of stakeholders to data sharing. The project confirmed that a large percentage of journals do not have a policy on data sharing, and that there are inconsistencies between the traceable journal data sharing policies. Such a state leaves authors unsure of whether they should deposit data relating to articles and where and how to share that data. In the absence of a consolidated infrastructure for the easy sharing of data, a journal data sharing model policy was developed. The model policy was developed from comparing the quantitative information gathered from analysing existing journal data policies with qualitative data collected from the stakeholders concerned. This article summarises the information gathered, outlines the process by which the model was developed and presents the model journal data sharing policy in full

Transient, unsettling and creative space: Experiences of liminality through the accounts of Chinese students on a UK-based MBA

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ The Author(s) 2009.This article explores the experiences of liminality through the accounts of Chinese students on a UK-based MBA programme. The transient nature of the MBA experience, as well as the international status of the Chinese student, is resonant with conceptualizations of liminality as ‘in between’ space. Based on semi-structured interviews with 20 MBA graduates who had subsequently returned to China with their qualification, we explored their perceptions of outcomes from the course and their experiences as international students on a programme imbued with western norms and values. Results support the unsettling yet creative implications of liminality, as well as the fragmented insecure nature of identities, as individuals pass through the MBA ‘rite of passage’ in terms of ‘becoming’ a manager and entering a new phase of career. Accounts suggest the creation of hierarchical structures within liminal space whereby Chinese students, through their positioning at the margin, have uncomfortable yet illuminating encounters with alterity. At the same time, they experience levels of ambiguity and uncertainty in the post-liminal phase of China-located employments, as new western-based managerial identities collide with dominant discourses of Chinese organization

Research data sharing: developing a stakeholder-driven model for journal policies

The conclusions of research articles generally depend on bodies of data that cannot be included in the articles themselves. The sharing of this data is important for reasons of both transparency and possible reuse. Science, Technology and Medicine journals have an obvious role in facilitating sharing, but how they might do that is not yet clear. The Journal Research Data (JoRD) Project was a JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) funded feasibility study on the possible shape of a central service on journal research data policies. The objectives of the study included, amongst other considerations: to identify the current state of journal data sharing policies and to investigate the views and practices of stakeholders to data sharing. The project confirmed that a large percentage of journals do not have a policy on data sharing, and that there are inconsistencies between the traceable journal data sharing policies. Such a state leaves authors unsure of whether they should deposit data relating to articles and where and how to share that data. In the absence of a consolidated infrastructure for the easy sharing of data, a journal data sharing model policy was developed. The model policy was developed from comparing the quantitative information gathered from analysing existing journal data policies with qualitative data collected from the stakeholders concerned. This article summarises the information gathered, outlines the process by which the model was developed and presents the model journal data sharing policy in full

Gender, age and the MBA: An analysis of extrinsic and intrinsic career benefits

Against the background of an earlier UK study, this paper presents the findings of a Canadian based survey of career benefits from the MBA. Results indicate firstly that gender and age interact to influence perceptions of career outcomes (young men gain most in terms of extrinsic benefits of career change and pay), and secondly that both men and women gain intrinsic benefits from the MBA. However, intrinsic benefits vary by gender: men in the study were more likely to say they gained confidence from having a fuller skill set while women were more likely to say they gained confidence from feelings of self worth; men emphasised how they had learned to give up control while women argued that they had gained a ‘voice’ in the organization. The role of the MBA in career self- management and the acquisition of key skills are examined as well as the implications for the design of programmes in meeting the varied need of men and women in different age groups

What it means to succeed: personal conceptions of career success held by male and female managers at different ages

The aim of this research is to investigate how managers define career success for themselves. It seeks to discover what differences there are in the way that women and men, and older and younger managers, see their own career success. It fills an identifiable gap in the literature on career success, in that it examines the subject from the point of view of the individual, not the organisation. In doing so, it responds to calls for work in this area, especially the development of "orientational categories" which classify peoples' attitudes to careers according to their individual predispositions (Bailyn 1989). The research, which took place in BT, uses qualitative methods, in particular in-depth interviewing, to elicit managers' own definitions of career success. Using techniques of qualitative data analysis and with the help of NUD. IST computer software, it develops a typology of managerial career success, which shows that managers view their own career success in one of four ways: as a Climber, who emphasises hierarchical position, pay and enjoyment in their definition of success; as an Expert, who sees success as being good at what they do and getting personal recognition for this; as an Influencer, who defines career success primarily as organisational influence; and as a Self-Realiser, who judges their own career success by achievement at a very personal level. Women managers, who generally base their definitions of career success on internal and intangible criteria, are more likely to be Experts and Self-Realisers; men, who tend to base their ideas of success on external criteria are more likely to be Climbers and Influencers. Younger managers, especially men, are most likely to be Climbers, and older managers, Influencers who often see their own success in terms of achieving something at work by which they will be remembered