Do Managers Care?

Addicts of reality television who are also interested in labour, employment and work will no doubt have watched “Undercover Boss” in a combination of stunned disbelief and awe as formerly unconnected managers are exposed to a taste of workplace reality when they take on the role of an entry level worker in their own organisation. What the best of these undercover bosses discover is a measure of empathy with the circumstances of their workers and other stakeholders in their businesses. Surprisingly empathy is a factor which has received relatively little attention in business and workplace research. In recent research we conducted in New Zealand SMEs on another topic we identified fascinating examples of managerial empathy impacting the organisation’s business practices, strategy and behaviour towards workers, customers, suppliers and others. In this paper we report these examples of managerial empathy and discuss their implications for managers, workplaces and future research

‘Culture’s Consequences’: Implementing Western ideas in an Asian Organisation

This paper briefly reviews the connection between knowledge management and the learning organisation, argues that both concepts rely on culturally embedded theories and practices, and presents a case study of the use of Senge’s learning organisation concepts in one large Singaporean organisation. The analysis of this case reveals the cultural challenges that emerged in the process of applying essentially Western management theories within an Asian culture. In conclusion we discuss the practical implication of these challenges for Singapore organisations, multi-national organisations, and for trans-national consulting advice. In particular, Singaporean respect for power, status and order impacts on knowledge management implementation strategies. Thus, for instance, we suggest same status groups be used for seeking feedback. At a more general level we discuss the choice knowledge management practitioners have between ‘best practice’ versus ‘best fit’ approaches to implementation

Developing the Statutory Obligation of Good Faith in Employment Law: What Might Human Resource Management Contribute?

The Employment Relations Act 2000 has strengthened individual employee rights in two ways. First, it provides that the parties to an employment relationship must deal with each other in good faith. Secondly, it has made it clear that the standard by which an unjustifiable action is to be judged is an objective one.  It is suggested that applying these new provisions will require some realignment of the judicial mindset which has tended to resist interventions into an employer's management of its employees.  This article will first discuss the nature and extent of the good faith obligation in the management of the day-to-day individual employment relationship as well as the nature of the changes to the test of justification. It will then go on to consider whether disciplines such as organisational psychology and human resource management good practice provide a potential source of reliable evidence which can contribute to the legal development and re-evaluation of concepts such as good faith and justification.  The ability to make such a contribution is dependent on whether the disciplines are sufficiently developed and their principles and practices sufficiently accepted, and also on whether the courts are prepared to accept and give adequate weight to expert evidence that may be adduced

Opportunities and Tensions in New Zealand Organisations: The Individual and the Organisation in Development

This paper is the first step in a much larger project investigating the development of human capability for New Zealand workplaces. The paper reports the findings of a pilot case study conducted in a local manufacturing organisation that had a good reputation for initiatives in human capability development. The study explored the factors that helped and hindered individuals in developing skills and capabilities in the workplace. The findings showed that three key features of organisational infrastructure drove and shaped capability within this manufacturing organisation: self directed teams, a company skills matrix linked to pay, and a production and quality management system. The study is discussed in light of a selection of the literature on workplaces and capability development. The paper explores the interaction of individual and organisational factors in the development of human capability, particularly self-esteem and workplaces as learning environments

Opening the black box: The mediating roles of organisational systems and ambidexterity in the HRM-performance link in public sector organisations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how HIWS may shape organisational capabilities, in particular organisational ambidexterity (OA) – the ability to be both adaptable to the wider world, and internally aligned so that existing resources are used well. Given the demands on public agencies to manage conflicting objectives, and to do more with less in increasingly complex environments, this paper improves our understanding of how HIWS can contribute to public sector performance. The paper sheds light inside the black box of the HIWS/organisational performance link. Design/methodology/approach This multi-level quantitative study is based on a survey of 2,123 supervisory staff, and 9,496 non-supervisory employees in 56 government organisations. Findings The study identifies two paths to organisational performance. The first is a direct HIWS performance link. The second is a double mediation model from HIWS to organisational systems, to OA and then performance. Practical implications A focus on developing HIWS provides an alternative means to public sector performance, than restructuring or other performative activities. Originality/value This is one of the few studies that explore how HIWS can develop collective as well as individual capabilities. Studies in the public sector are particularly rare

Molecular Biology of an Autocrine Inhibitor of Milk Secretion

Research over many years has shown that the rate of milk secretion is regulated by frequency and completeness of milk removal. The effect of milk removal occurs through local mechanisms within each mammary gland, and recent work indicates that local control is through feedback inhibition by a novel milk protein termed FIL, Feedback Inhibitor of Lactation. Evidence from studies in mammary cell culture suggests that FIL controls the rate of milk secretion, mediating the effect of frequency and completeness of milk removal, by inhibition of constitutive secretion, which involves reversible blockade of mammary membrane trafficking. Due to its effects on membrane trafficking, FIL may also regulate mammary differentiation. This may provide a mechanistic explanation for the developmental changes associated with sustained alterations in milking frequency or efficiency. For example, extended frequent milking elicits a significant increase in secretory cell differentiation as measured by mRNA abundance and activities of key enzymes involved in milk synthesis. However, neither the developmental changes at the level of gene expression or the mechanism underpinning these responses has been characterised in detail. The aim of this project was therefore to investigate whether frequency of milking does indeed control expression of key milk protein genes and to investigate the mechanisms underpinning the putative regulation of gene expression - specifically, to determine if FIL is competent to influence mammary gene expression. In the first phase of the project, manipulation of milking frequency and concomitant changes in the rate of milk secretion were found to be accompanied in the long term, but not in the short term, by changes in milk protein mRNA abundance. Treatments which did not change milk yield did not affect milk protein gene expression, indicating that changes in milk protein gene expression, like changes in milking frequency are dependent on effective manipulation of milk removal. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underpinning the increase in milk protein mRNA abundance, demonstrated in vivo, goat mammary cells m primary culture were treated with milk fractions and FIL to determine if this protein was indeed competent to modulate milk protein gene expression. These studies demonstrated that long term exposure to FIL decreases milk protein mRNA abundance in vitro, lending further credence to the theory that FIL is a regulator of mammary differentiation. Changes in gene expression in response to FIL, demonstrated in vitro, imply that FEL is involved in the developmental response of the gland to frequency of milk removal. Since FIL is itself a mammary gene product, it is also possible that FIL is an autocrine regulator of its own expression. Therefore, the next phase of this project was to clone the gene for FIL, and, if successful investigate the regulation of its gene expression. Several strategies were implemented to clone FII. including screening of goat mammary cDNA libraries with anti-FIL antibody and with synthetic oligonucleotides constructed on the basis of known FIL protein sequence. These strategies were not successful. Whether this was due to library composition, antibody specificity or excessive redundancy in the predicted nucleotide sequence of caprine FIL remains to be determined. In conclusion, the project has shown that the developmental responses to frequency and completeness of milk removal are associated with changes in expression of key milk protein genes, and experiments in cell culture suggest these changes may be elicited by FIL, as a long term consequence of its effects on mammary membrane trafficking

A Comparison of Medical Ethics and Managerial Ethics in the Health Sector

This multidisciplinary doctorate research draws on the disciplines of psychology and philosophy in its consideration and comparison of medical ethics and managerial ethics in the health sector. There is very little research which has compared the ethics of doctors and managers even though they work alongside each other in health organisations. Hence this thesis not only adds to the body of knowledge but also contributes a new perspective to applied ethics via the multidisciplinary approach. The empirical research was conducted in three phases. First, a pilot study which interviewed via the repertory grid method six doctors and managers from a Crown Health Enterprise (i.e. a public sector health provider organisation which manages a number of hospitals). Second, a series of repertory grid interviews conducted with nineteen doctors and managers from seven Crown Health Enterprises throughout New Zealand. In the third phase, the ethical constructs and role perceptions identified in the first and second phases were incorporated into a questionnaire which was distributed to 799 doctors and managers in three Crown Health Enterprises. The questionnaire posed a range of questions on role perceptions, ethical dilemmas faced, influences on ethically challenging decisions, ethical issues, and required respondents to rate an ethical manager, ethical doctor, unethical manager and unethical doctor on a range of constructs and rate which construct contributed the most to being an ethical manager and to being an ethical doctor. The main aim was to identify similarities and differences between doctors and managers. The questionnaire analysis revealed a complex three way interaction between doctor/manager raters and the ethical/unethical doctor/manager being rated. This interaction was best represented by seven of the bipolar constructs. Additionally it was found that a highly ethical doctor was seen as honest, focused on patients' best interests, and principled - has standards which are lived up to privately and publicly. The highly ethical manager was seen as honest, flexible and open to others' ideas, recognises and uses the skills of others for their good and the good of the health service, committed to and works hard for the public health service, and takes a long term/strategic view of issues and the wider implications of decisions. Overall it was concluded that the results showed that medical ethics and managerial ethics can be discussed within a general moral framework which allows for different priorities in each role. And that the fundamental difference in priorities between doctors and managers, lay in their basic role orientation - doctors focused on the patient, and managers focused on the organisation

Do Managers Care?

Addicts of reality television who are also interested in labour, employment and work will no doubt have watched “Undercover Boss” in a combination of stunned disbelief and awe as formerly unconnected managers are exposed to a taste of workplace reality when they take on the role of an entry level worker in their own organisation. What the best of these undercover bosses discover is a measure of empathy with the circumstances of their workers and other stakeholders in their businesses. Surprisingly empathy is a factor which has received relatively little attention in business and workplace research. In recent research we conducted in New Zealand SMEs on another topic we identified fascinating examples of managerial empathy impacting the organisation’s business practices, strategy and behaviour towards workers, customers, suppliers and others. In this paper we report these examples of managerial empathy and discuss their implications for managers, workplaces and future research

Le travail et le développement des capacités

Cet article explore les moteurs, les éléments contributifs et les freins au développement des capacités au travail. Il passe en revue les principales thématiques de la littérature consacrée aux capabilités (*) et met en évidence les tensions entre les visions utilitaristes étroites de la théorie du capital humain et l’approche par les capacités plus holistique défendue par Amartya Sen. Cet article présente ensuite des travaux de recherche qui étudient les influences institutionnelles, organisationnelles et individuelles sur le développement des capacités dans des organisations néo-zélandaises. Il analyse enfin le rôle du travail dans le développement des capacités et met en lumière des facteurs importants tels que la qualité de l’emploi et l’influence de personnes clés sur les progrès individuels. Et il conclut sur la question suivante : que peut-on raisonnablement attendre des gouvernements et des employeurs en matière de contribution au développement des capacités ?(*) Le mot anglais « capability » est traduit par le néologisme « capabilité » ou, par souci de simplicité, par « capacité » dans les expressions « approche par les capacités » et « développement des capacités ».This paper explores how work acts as driver of, contributor to, and barrier to the development of human capability. It outlines key themes from various bodies of literature addressing capability. These highlight the tension between the narrower, organisationally instrumental human capital theory perspectives, and the broader, more holistic human capability approaches typified by Amartya Sen. The paper then reports case study research which explores institutional, organisational and individual influences on the development of human capability in New Zealand workplaces. Finally, it discusses implications on the role of work in developing human capability. These include the importance of quality of employment, and the influence of key people over individual progress; and raises questions about what it is reasonable to expect governments and employers to contribute to human capability development.In diesem Beitrag wird untersucht, wie sich Arbeit fördernd oder hemmend auf die Entwicklung menschlicher Fähigkeiten (Capabilities) auswirken kann. Die Autoren geben einen Überblick über die Behandlung der Capabilities in der Fachliteratur und zeigen die bestehenden Spannungen auf zwischen einer eher utilitaristischen Sichtweise der Humankapital-Theorie und einem eher holistisch ausgerichteten Ansatz der Capabilities, wie er von Amartya Sen vertreten wird. Im Anschluss daran werden Fallstudien vorgestellt, die die institutionellen, organisatorischen sowie individuellen Einflüsse auf Human CapabilityDevelopment am Arbeitsplatz in Neuseeland behandeln. Abschließend wird untersucht, welche Rolle Arbeit bei der Entwicklung und dem Ausbau von Capabilities zukommt. Dabei werden insbesondere Arbeitsqualität sowie Schüsselfiguren als wichtige Einflussgrößen auf individuelle Fortschritte hervorgehoben. Gleichzeitig stellen sich die Autoren die Frage, ob und wie Staat und Arbeitgeber sich aktiv am Human Capability Development beteiligenkönnenundwollen