Power sharing in progressive discipline: New rules of engagement arising from an Australian perspective

The aim of this exploratory study is to apply the lens of power to the understanding of progressive discipline in Australian workplace contexts. Using data from the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, we analysed the outcomes of 78 unfair dismissal cases across 17 industries over a four-year period (1997-2000). We found that the application of progressive discipline on employees is concentrated around industry and occupational class. Specifically, it shows that occupational classes such as unskilled, skilled, and sales staff are more susceptible to disciplining by employers. It raises the awareness of the immense power the employer derives from the use of progressive discipline over employees and implications in the new environment of on-going labour deregulation and the lack of statutory intervention to ameliorate the growing power imbalance

Strategy discourse as collaborative design practice: Can design thinking benefit strategy development?

This paper provides an investigation into strategic processes, focusing on identifying the processes, practices and capabilities characterising intra- and inter-organisational collaboration that foster strategy development and innovation through creativity in thinking and problem solving. To do so we build our research framework at the intersection of four theoretical foundations: integrative design practice (or design thinking), inter-organizational collaboration, dynamic capabilities and practice theory

Designing the future: strategy, design and the 4th Revolution: an introduction

This is an introduction to the special issue of California Management Review on Design Thinking (DT). This special issue joins the growing body of work exploring the idea of DT and whether DT makes a difference in terms enhancing or augmenting the impact of technology—and, as a result, innovation—in a positive way. We have chosen an interesting, relevant, and useful array of papers that provide different approaches, views, and interpretations of applied design thinking. These articles provide both management and scholarly readers with insights in how DT is used, as well as its impact and usefulness in a variety of contexts

Positive Design: Using Design Thinking as a Creative Process for Enhancing Project Outcomes

This PDW brings together scholars and practitioners working on creativity, design thinking and strategy to explore, debate, and illustrate the ways in which design thinking is being used as a creative process to positively impact people as the beneficiaries and stakeholders of projects. The PDW is the first of a series of PDWs to be proposed at AOM over the next three years seeking to bring the design thinking and positive organizational scholarship communities together to advance knowledge, theorizing and research on how design thinking can impact projects to improve society and have a positive and sustainable impact on people, planet and profit. The workshop will be an interactive, design thinking led session and will produce micro-projects to advance the ‘positive design’ cause within the academy. This session will also be supported by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and will seek to broaden and build networks across AOM, SMS and PMI to advance creative approaches to project design with a focus on beneficiaries and stakeholders

Organizational creativity as idea work: Intertextual placing and legitimating imaginings in media development and oil exploration

How do we understand the nature of organizational creativity when dealing with complex, composite ideas rather than singular ones? In response to this question, we problematize assumptions of the linearity of creative processes and the singularity of ideas in mainstream creativity theory. We draw on the work of Bakhtin and longitudinal research in two contrasting cases: developing hydrocarbon prospects and concepts for films and TV series. From these two cases, we highlight two forms of work on ideas: (i) intertextual placing, whereby focal ideas are constituted by being connected to other elements in a larger idea field; and (ii) legitimating imaginings, where ideas of what to do are linked to ideas of what is worth doing and becoming. This ongoing constitution and legitimating is not confined to particular stages but takes place in practices of generating, connecting, communicating, evaluating and reshaping ideas, which we call idea work. The article contributes to a better understanding of the processual character of creativity and the deeply intertextual nature of ideas, including the multiplicity of idea content and shifting parts–whole relationships. Idea work also serves to explore the neglected role of co-optative power in creativity

Positive Design: Using Design Thinking as a Creative Process for Enhancing Project Outcomes

This PDW brings together scholars and practitioners working on creativity, design thinking and strategy to explore, debate, and illustrate the ways in which design thinking is being used as a creative process to positively impact people as the beneficiaries and stakeholders of projects. The PDW is the first of a series of PDWs to be proposed at AOM over the next three years seeking to bring the design thinking and positive organizational scholarship communities together to advance knowledge, theorizing and research on how design thinking can impact projects to improve society and have a positive and sustainable impact on people, planet and profit. The workshop will be an interactive, design thinking led session and will produce micro-projects to advance the ‘positive design’ cause within the academy. This session will also be supported by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and will seek to broaden and build networks across AOM, SMS and PMI to advance creative approaches to project design with a focus on beneficiaries and stakeholders