Industrial disputes in Punjab

The funding of large and medium industries in Punjab

Transformation and power in a multiorganizational partnership: A case study One of the challenges for multiorganizational partnerships is the inability of agencies involved to address or even be prepared to address issues of power. Power relations in partnerships are a neglected area in the literature (e.g. Hastings, 1999; Huxham and Vangen, 2005; Marsh and Murie, 1997; Martin, 1999). This case study contributes to this debate through an insider's perspective in the context of the author's experience working as a partnership manager and researcher. This was neither a neutral nor an objective engagement as I played an active part in the unfolding story as a powerful, reflexive actor. My inquiry addresses the issue of power in relation to transformation processes. Specifically set within an action inquiry strategy, the research focuses on the emergent nature of partnership transformation and the ways in which power manifested itself and influenced the Partnership's development. Partnerships open up opportunities for political activity through a reframing of activity in a domain, and whilst this can be positive in forging new relationships and generating new ideas, it can also have potentially negative effects for partnership transformation. The thesis offers a syntactical approach using first-, second-, and third-person voices in order to explicate a real partnership's transformation processes and power issues and to enhance validity through triangulation and integration of these perspectives. In the first-person the thesis concludes that greater recognition should be given to the critical role, competences and development needs of partnership professionals and particularly partnership managers as boundary spanners. In the second-person the inquiry claims that more attention could usefully be focused on intra-partnership conflict as a means of improving partnership effectiveness. In the third-person voice the study concludes that remedial action may be necessary to resolve shadows of the past that may continue to blight partnership transformation and that the under-resourcing of partnerships is a critical issue for partnerships.

This thesis is located within the area of Knowledge Management and focuses on enhancing the transfer of knowledge. The research investigated how organisations manage knowledge in times of major restructuring. The research used Action Research to establish a collaborative partnership with the client organisation and to enable a cyclical approach to the research activity with ongoing involvement that allows feedback to be gathered as the research progresses. There was concern that knowledge was being lost and ways needed to be developed to stem the haemorrhage due to the movement of people to different posts or their departure from the organisation. Consequently the importance of the research for the Post Office was established in the first phase of the research. The research was based on interviews with managers in the Post Office and other selected organisations. Interview analyses showed differences in approaches to managing knowledge, often depending on their organisational epistemology. Consequently it was possible to build a framework for managing knowledge in times of change. The model was explored further within the Post Office to establish its validity and reliability and practical use for managers. Overall, the research recognises the potential for improved processes that, if applied effectively at the appropriate planning juncture, could result in improved identification and transfer of knowledge during times of major organisational restructuring. The research contributes to theory by identifying the critical period of transaction when a change or restructuring activity is underway. It also contributes by the exploration of two existing knowledge management process models and development of two ancillary models that enable the working of knowledge processes to be understood in greater detail. The research contributes to managerial practice by the development of a practical working framework enabling an organisation to make practical use of the research. By using the model organisations and those managing change will be able to support their thinking and trigger knowledge assessment, capture and transfer activities in a systematic way. Key words: Knowledge management; Knowledge processes; Knowledge transfer; Organisational restructuring; Change management.

The thesis contributes to an understanding of the nature of Managerial work, confronting the work in its natural setting. It offers an empirically grounded description of the social organisation of managerial work; it explores the taken for granted features of managers'work that allows members to recognise and reproduce their normal everyday activities amid the variability and complexity that comprises their days work. The study finds managerial work to be a primarily verbal activity; accessible through a study of interaction. Resources of Conversation Analysis are utilised to explore how the managers use talk to accomplish their activities and to expose and test their understanding. An ethnographically informed approach reveals that the social organisation of the work is inextricable from local, referential matters. The thesis is presented in two parts. Part I explorest he 'insitu' accomplishment of a number of activities within selected instances of managerial work; a memo,a discussion of future work plans and a strategic planning meeting. It finds and demonstrates how such work as negotiating a position, identifying a problem reaching agreement is not just the outcome of a sequential organisation but of a retrospective-prospective design. Phenomena such as 'planning' and 'organising' are appropriated at the interactional level. They are found to be achieved in the insitu accomplishment of various conversational features; agreement and modification amongst others, through an understanding of local contingencies such as time scales for projects, the personalities involved, and by practices of description and explanation. Part 2 takes up an interest, begun in Part 1, with occasions when the managers offer explanations of their work. The ability to "talk about management" is found to be a competenc essential to the accomplishment of a number of managerial activities such as working up plans, making sensible a proposal. A number of occasions where particular managers offer verbal 'tours' of their work are explored. Not only doest his reveal something of how accounts get done, but it brings into the public domain some of the 'commonsense understandings' that the managers orientate in shaping up a telling of their work. Attention to these 'espoused logics' 'lines of regard' is important in terms of developing an adequate theory of the organisation of managerial work. It could be on the basis of these' practical theories' that the managers work proceeds that particular decisions get taken, plans are agreed etc.

Conducted within the global corporation of the Hewlett-Packard Company, (HP),this research examines employee and contractor responses to strategic implementation. The research environment is a relatively small UK group withinthe corporation that has continuously experienced significant change as new strategies were implemented. Employee and contractor responses to three separate cycles of change are analysed together with data drawn from the wider corporation by using a psychological contract framework, semi-structured interviewing, a research diary and secondary data from the literature and electronic sources. The research is essentially qualitative but draws on quantitative data where appropriate. A case study approach within an action research paradigm is the chosen methodology to allow consideration and triangulation of multiple sources of data relevant to the natural workplace setting. The research has confirmed a change from old or original psychological contracts to new contracts where employees and contractors are more insecure in, and more cynical of, their employment. This change is perceived as a violation of their psychological contract and is causing employees and contractors to adopt a more mercenary approach to their employment with HP. The special bond between HP and its employees generated by the values and egalitarian working environment created by its founders has been broken by new leadership. Acquisition of the Compaq Computer Company has further impacted employees and contractors resulting in declining morale and increasing scepticism about its proposed benefits. Indeed the very legitimacy of the acquisition and the leadership of HP are being questioned as HP changes to a new form. According to the founders, the values established that made HP successful in its first fifty years were expected to continue for at least another fifty years. This research shows how changing these values has collectively impacted employees and contractors resulting in a major threat to the continuing existence of HP in its present form.

Thesis (M.A.)--Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries, 1993.

M.Com. / For most people the word "creativity" is more applicable to art than to business. In reality one of the highest art forms is, and could be, business. In business the tools with which we are working are extremely dynamic : capital, people, market and ideas. In order to enable people to discover and live up to their creative potential, the company has to establish and maintain an environment which promotes and enhances the creative abilities of its members. Most people have been part of a system, either at school, in their homes or elsewhere, where their creative abilities have not been promoted and supported. This experience background of a person still remains the strongest factor that can either stimulate or discourage creativity ...

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-135). / This research study focuses mainly on the internal environment of land reform in the South African Wine Industry. Therefore it deals specifically with empowerment projects in the South African Wine Industry on producer level. Given the concern as mentioned above the following research question was formulated: How does one increase the leadership and management capabilities of individuals within empowerment projects on the primary producer level in the South African Wine Industry?

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-107). / The environment, in which wine business operate, is the global wine arena. This environment is increasingly complex, competitive and fraught with challenges (Rabobank International, 2003). In addition to managing the changes in supply and demand, the competition is mounting and the challenges are increased by a structural and long-term oversupply that has caused falling prices and margins all round the globe (Rabobank International, 2006). The four recognised and accepted drivers of change for the wine industry are shifting demand; increasing retail power; the increasing impact of brands and increasing competition between wine countries and companies.