Thesis (Ph.D.)--Syracuse University, 2008. / "Publication number: AAT 3323096."

Zugl.: Hannover, Univ., Habil.-Schr., 2003.

Universiẗat, Diss., 1991--Duisburg.

This thesis aims to make an original contribution to the development of effective ethical discourse at work through the development of a conceptual model which reframes existent philosophical ideas and moral perspectives. Its intention is both to facilitate better personal understanding, and to enable improved moral communication between individuals, workforce communities and organisations. This is needed because the impacts of the banking crisis, and continued incidences of corporate wrongdoing are exposing the weaknesses in managerial capitalism, and provide evidence that the rhetoric of business values is sometimes at odds with reality. Contemporary organisations are also increasingly being required to explain and defend the values which shape their business conduct, an irreversible trend driven by factors such as the growth of the social media, increasing private ownership of wealth, shareholder activism, and stakeholder empowerment. The thesis presents a framework for ethical analysis and discourse. The research takes the form of transdisciplinary enquiry. Applying a critical realist perspective, relevant bodies of literature are reviewed, leading to the creation of a proposed analytical framework and an associated process model. It is proposed that together these comprise the tools to help the development of the ethical manager. Using a case study approach, the framework is first trialled among postgraduate professional MBA students. Based on initial research findings, a developed framework is then adapted and field-tested for relevance to practising managers in diverse organisational contexts, and potential further uses and applications considered. Concept testing demonstrates that a flexible managerial model of ethical analysis the thesis [proposes] is successfully developed for use by business practitioners, consultants and business ethicists. Management as a discipline is pragmatic in nature, drawing in an eclectic manner on differing academic disciplines, and the proposed model is similarly derived from a transdisciplinary approach to business ethics which seeks to gain insights from diverse disciplines, drawing from both moral philosophy and developmental psychology to create an original PREP framework and associated process model.

The aim of this research is to make contributions to knowledge in two areas: first, to explore from an historical perspective the development of personnel management ideas and practices in Britain in the period from 1890 to 1939 (a task which hitherto has not been satisfactorily undertaken) and secondly to assess the implications of the findings to current theoretical frameworks. Very little research has been undertaken into the historical development of personnel management in Britain, in contrast to the United States where anumber of such studies have been published. The main exception is a published history of the professional institute published by MM Niven in 1967. Whilst providing useful insights, its main concerns were with the internal affairs of the institute, not with the development of ideas and practices. Niven traces the development of the institute from its origins in an association of welfare workers established in 1913 and since it stands as the only historical account of historical development in personnel management in Britain, it has been universally cited as the single authority on the subject, together with its main thesis that personnel management in Britain has its origins solely in welfare work. It was a minimally explained, but potentially significant event in the institute’s history that provided the stimulus for this research. Niven recounts that the institute changed its name to the Institute of Labour Management in 1931,suggesting that welfare work had undergone some ‘restyling’ around this time. Significantly, Niven recounts that so called ‘labour managers’were predominantly male, whilst welfare workers were predominantly female. From this, it was hypothesised that labour managers might have entirely separate origins from those engaged in welfare work and if so, this might call into question the sole origins of British personnel management in welfare work. Thus, the thesis has been concerned with a search for the origins of the so called ‘labour management’ movement in Britain, the existence of which has not hitherto been commented upon or even recognised. Drawing from contemporary texts, contemporary journals broadly concerned with the topic of management and case material drawn from company archives,the research endeavours to show that labour management did indeed have entirely separate origins, evolving from works management before 1914,through a ‘labour officer’ role with particular involvement in industrial relations during the First World War, to that of a fully fledged functional labour management specialism in the inter-war years promulgating ideas and practices strongly influenced by scientific management. Moreover, the research will endeavour to show that it was this set of ideas and practices that laid the foundations of modern personnel work, whilst the contributions of welfare workers to this remained minimal, leaving only the legacy of today’s professional institute and an ongoing debate which persists to the present time about what role, if any, employee welfare should play in contemporary human resource management.

Collaborative higher education refers to an array of different arrangements between higher education institutions (HEIs) and other providers - private providers in the case of this thesis. The main focus of the thesis is to understand stakeholders’ perspectives on collaborative partnerships between HEIs and private for-profit providers in the provision of UK degree courses in business and management. Recent decades have seen the massification of HE. The demand for HE in the UK has been growing significantly. But the state has begun to disengage itself from financing HEIs and thus their continuing state funding is under challenge. Market mechanisms have been introduced. Collaborative HE provision between HEIs and private for-profit providers can be seen as an activity undertaken as part of an increasingly marketised UK HE landscape. Management, staff such as link-tutors, and policy-makers in quality organisations were interviewed: thirteen in the UK and six in Sri Lanka. Five former non-European Union (EU) private college international students were interviewed in the UK. Three focus groups were conducted with non-EU private college international students in the UK. This is an exploratory study, from which it is not possible to generalise, but findings indicate that: a. Non-EU international students choose to study in private HE colleges because it enables them to acquire a UK degree at a lower cost. b. Working with private partners in the UK and overseas is perceived to have an economic motive and collaborative partnerships are seen as a partial solution to the difficult financial situation of HEIs. c. Collaborative HE partnerships help UK HEIs to expand their market. d. Government intervention in the private for-profit HE sector is discernible, for example through the Educational Oversight Review of private providers. This is blurring the boundary between what is described as public and private.

This research is based on an explorative study of cultural factors and their impact on people management strategies of Pakistani-owned SMEs in the UK. The topic of the research has been investigated through in-depth literature review, case studies and questionnaire-based field survey. The literature review provided theoretical insights to the study and empirical investigation generated a wide range of information about practical scenario of these companies. The triangulation approach of the study helped in offsetting weaknesses of a specific method by strengths of other methods. Keeping in view nature and requirements of the research topic, the researcher preferred inductive approach (theory building) instead of deductive approach (theory testing). The deductive approach is usually linked with natural sciences; whereas, inductive approach works well with social sciences. The current area of the research was purely subjective (closely linked with social sciences) requiring qualitative data through case studies and field surveys, therefore the researcher preferred interpretative philosophy and inductive approach which proved very effective in data gathering and analyzing process. The empirical investigation discovered a range of cultural factors such as religion, values, beliefs, traditions, cross-culture imperatives, languages and communication patterns playing a pivotal role in evolving and shaping HR related strategic frameworks of Pakistani-owned SMEs in the UK. The study emphasised the role of entrepreneurs as cross-cultural mediators seeking to develop their multiple identities to deal better with their multi-ethnic employees and customers. The triangulation of integrating the findings emerged out of case studies, field survey and literature review reflect a close resemblance between results of case studies and questionnaire survey; however, some dissimilarities have been found between empirical results and the results derived out of the literature review. The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by furthering our substantive understanding about HRM, culture and cultural influences on HR strategies and practices of SMEs. It provides some practical lessons to SMEs in the UK in general and ethnic minority SMEs in particular. Also the study paves the way for students and researchers to conduct further research in the area to overcome any limitations found in the findings.

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In this chapter, we provide an overview of the broad field of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) so that we can set the stage for a more nuanced discussion of how e-mediation might contribute to dispute resolution mechanisms in the workplace. We discuss the context in which e-mediation has developed and grown, and consider non e-commerce uses for e-mediation such as the use of e-mediation in workplace conflicts. The primary aims of this chapter are (a) providing an overview of the ODR field and (b) provoking new and promising areas of expansion for e-mediation generally and in the workplace specifically. We propose several research avenues as well as suggestions for the application of e-mediation to online and on-ground workplace disputes based on relevant research. It is our hope that this chapter encourages further exploration and experimentation in the field of e-mediation at work.

Greenwashing occurs when organizations misrepresent themselves as engaging in earth-friendly behaviors. In this paper, the authors explain greenwashing and discuss its implications for the consumer and the organization. Moreover, using the existing theoretical framework of competitive altruism theory (Barclay, 2004; Hardy & Van Vugt, 2006), the authors explain the consumer’s role in the increasing corporate displays of greenwashing.