Emotional contagion and the infectious service smile: A response using parody

This short essay, with accompanying script, provides an example of using parody to critically engage with common management concepts. The target of the parody is the much researched phenomenon of emotional contagion, and the genre used in the parody is horror movies. The theoretical material used is a critique of capitalism and its relationship to cannabilsm by M. Lefebvre. The paper is provided in the May 2007 issue of Noteworks, and the link to this publication of the SCOS community is given above

What lessons can we learn from Babe, a sheep-pig, about inter-cultural adaptation?

This paper examines the movie Babe to discuss inter-cultural adaptation strategies and the role that affection and trust plays in inter-cultural relations. Specifically this paper discusses these inter-cultural themes in the context of who Babe becomes (a sheep-pig) and what his transformation into this hybrid may teach us about the inter-cultural adaptation journey. The paper provides a description of the major themes and characters in the movie, and shows how Babe and other animal characters approach the process of intercultural adaptation with varied degrees of success. We suggest that Babe is a useful resource for educators, and suggest ways that the movie can be used to promote dialogue in the classroom about inter-cultural adaptation strategies

The Brawn-Drain? Issues for the professional sports worker

Professionalism is now the reality in many sports. For the professional sportsperson (most professional sports are male), there are several challenges and issues that make them a 'special' type of worker. We explore three of the challenges of the sports professional: the short-term nature of the career and its implications which includes living with injury and the fear of life after a sports career; second, the 'brawn drain'; and third, the celebrity status of athletes

Comedy, pain and nonsense at the Red Moon Cafe: The Little Tramp's death by service work in Modern Times

Paper presented at the Art of Management Conference, 2004, ParisThis paper was originally presented at the Art of Management Conference, in Paris in 2004. The paper is an essay about The Red Moon Cafe scene in Charlie Chaplin's masterpeiece, Modern Times (1936). In this scene, famous for the Nonsense Song, where the Little Tramp 'speaks' for the first and the last time on screen, Chaplin explores service work, especially the theme of authenticity, and uses his skills as a dancer, musician, choreographer, and film maker, to provide a commentary on service work

The impact of The Warehouse on New Zealand small towns: A discussion paper with specific reference to Maori

This discussion paper is based on empirical material looking at the social impact of The Warehouse (TW) on small town NZ. The results of this research show that Māori have a more positive orientation to The Warehouse than the non-Māori population. This paper provides some explanations of why this could be the case in small town New Zealand. The discussion paper suggests that large-format retail researchers need to be more careful when arguing that large-format retailers negatively affect small towns: the impact of their entry depends on socio-economic factors and the ethnic circumstances of various groups in the community and their outlying areas

Re-conceiving management education: Artful teaching and learning

Artists derive inspiration from daily life. According to John Dewey, common experiences are transformed into works of art through a process of compression and expression. In this paper we adopt this frame, showing how it is used within the pedagogical environment. Students were asked to reflect on their lives and offer an artful response to those experiences. Artfulness is defined here as a process which relies on the discursive practices of satire, and in particular irony and parody. We demonstrate the use of these rhetorical techniques as reflective tools, offering a service management class as an exemplar. In this class students were asked to consider their common experiences as both customers and service providers, and create an ironic artefact. We analyse a cartoon sequence produced by students in response to this assignment, where they parodied the fast-food service experience, illustrating how a business studies classroom can be transformed into an artful space

Irony's architecture: Reflections on a photographic research project

This paper presents a research approach based on irony, rather than certainty. Using Richard Rorty's conception of irony, we contend that much traditional research in management presents a final language which is implicit in both the construction of a research method and its final presentation as findings. This paper suggests we should take irony more seriously, and deliberately construct research to allow and encourage re-description by our research's final arbiters - its readers, and even its subjects. Further, we advocate that by inviting irony into our work, we encourage greater identification between ourselves, our audience of readers, and the subjects of our work. We illustrate our argument by reflecting on a recent photographic research project which was a collaborative effort between management researchers and an artist. We show how the simple architecture of this project was built from doubt and how irony is communicated through the pictures. We then show how photography can be a useful technique that encourages readers to engage in re-description of petit récits (small stories), told through images. We discuss our reflections by focusing on the implications of our research for management education

Women, the Employment Contracts Act and bargaining: a discussion paper

This paper discusses some of the issues that arise from the Employment Contracts Act for women and bargaining. These issues are discussed in the contexts of likely future trends in female labour force participation. The paper addresses the topics under the following general headings: the structural location of women in an increasingly fragmented labour market and the impact of that on women's bargaining power; socialization and perceptions of women's bargaining effectiveness; and the impact of the social policy initiatives of the New Right on women's employment choices

Home-based internet businesses as drivers of variety

The paper shows how and why Home-Based Internet Businesses are drivers of variety. This paper argues, by means of five theoretical perspectives, that because of the variety HBIBs generate, they contribute to the economy over and above their direct and indirect contributions in terms of revenue and employment. A multiple case study approach is employed studying the best practices of eight HBIBs. It is found that HBIBs generate variety because of the unique way in which they operate, and because of the reasons why they are started. How HBIBs operate can be captured in the acronym SMILES: Speed, Multiple income, Inexpensive, LEan, and Smart. They are founded (amongst other motives) for reasons of autonomy, freedom and independence. Both aspects – the how and why – of HBIBs are conducive to the creation of variety as they facilitate trial-and-error commercialization of authentic ideas. Five theoretical perspectives posit that variety is important for the industry and the economy: evolutionary theory, strategic management, organic urban planning, opportunity recognition, and the knowledge economy. The findings are discussed in the context of each perspective