Problems of Organisational Research

Problems of Organisational Research EVIDENCE AND THE PROBLEM OF ORGANISATIONAL RESEARCH. Research is a process that people go through in order to find out answers to questions in a systematic way, which will then increase their knowledge (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2005) in Saunders et al (2007). The purpose of this review essay is to critically discuss evidence and the problem of organizational research, using four academic articles. This review will amongst other things, try to outline the debate on possible approaches to business research, look at the arguments for evidence based research and give an explanation of the problems identified with this approaches. The first article under review is by M. Saunders, P. Lewis and E. Thornhill, (2007) titled ‘The nature of business and management research, taken from their Research Methods for Business Students. This article discusses the debates on the status of business and management research. One popular aspect of this debate is on the ‘transdisciplinary nature of management research. This is a situation whereby knowledge from different disciplines helps management research in no small measure to advance, which otherwise cannot be gotten from the disciplines separately. Another debate arising from this article is ‘that research should complete a virtuous circle of theory and practice (Tranfield and Starkey, 1998) in Saunders et al (2007). This is whereby business and management research will have to apply both theory and practice to increase knowledge. The third debate which this article discusses is how management research can meet the double hurdle of been rigorous both in theory and method while engaging the world of practice and relevance (Hodgkinson et al, 2001) in Saunders et al (2007). This debate arises mainly from Gibbons et al (1994) work on the production of knowledge and its concepts. The implications of these debates are that business and management research will now have ‘to address business issues and practical managerial problems in addition to advancing knowledge and understanding. This however may turn out to be a problem because research that has no commercial value now might have value in the future (Huff and Huff, 2001) in Saunders et al (2007). The second article, ‘Evidence based management by Pfeffer and Sutton(2006), discusses the issue that managers, very much like doctors, rely on outdated knowledge, traditional ways of doing things and their own methods and skills. As with medicine according to Pfeffer and Sutton (2006), managers should in addition to practice and experience, use best logic and evidence to achieve better results. This is because, as opined by Pfeffer and Sutton (2006), even though research on medical practices abound, doctors do not use them. This is the case also with managers because as per their argument, ‘managers are actually much more ignorant than doctors†¦.and they are less eager to find out. Although Pfeffer and Sutton (2006) posit an evidence based movement among managers, they do not loose sight of the challenges which are that the evidence is weaker because everyone lays claim to been a management expert and because of the dynamics from one company to another, that what works for one company may not work for another company. Reasons why managers prefer to make decisions that are not based on new evidence without giving it a serious thought, according to Pfeffer and Sutton (2006) is that they rely heavily on past experience. Dogma and belief is another major driver of managers decisions while ideology has its own fair share of the blame. Hype and marketing also plays a major role in the decisions taken by managers as much as imitation of another companys style; so does casual benchmarking though if well utilized can be cost effective but what works in one company may not work for another. In spite of the factors militating against evidence based management, as posited by Pfeffer and Sutton (2006), ‘organizations will perform better if leaders knew and applied the best evidence. This boils down to the point of ‘providing training, technologies and work practices so staff can take the critical results of the best studies to the bedside. These managers can achieve through demanding evidence, adopting a neutral stance towards ideologies and theories, examining logic, treating the organization as an unfinished prototype, embracing the attitude of wisdom and cultivating the right balance of humility and decisiveness, Pfeffer and Sutton (2006). The third article under review, ‘The narrative of evidence based management: a polemic by Morrell K, (2008) discusses that evidence based management is an offshoot of evidence based medicine which tries to apply ‘the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions (Sackett et al 1996) in Morrell(2008). Based on the extensive research carried out in the field of evidence based management, agencies of government and policy makers have taken on board principles of evidence based management, even though there is still no consensus as to what really evidence is in management studies or on what will be used the determine the quality of evidence (Dopson, 2006) in Morrell (2008). This article also points out the political and moral implications for management both as research and practice, arguing that ‘current attempts to translate the principles of evidence based management have overlooked the role of ethics and judgments (Sackett et al, 1996) in Morrell (2008). Morrell (2008) is of the opinion that not all those pushing for ‘evidence based approaches were in tune with each other as they used different variants to achieve their own purposes. However, they share the view about the relationship that management research has to management practice and the modes of research and forms of knowledge production that it promotes. Morrell (2008) argues that ideology has a part to play in evidence based management and the strands which he identified which can be traced are pragmatism, progress, systematization, technique and accumulation. Based on these, there is a commitment to positivism which means that our knowledge of the social world increases through experiment and that there should be a more scientific approach to the research of the social. This, according to (Hammersly, 2001) in Morrell (2008), is explicit in the goal of building an evidence base or knowledge stock which will give evidence about the social world. Consequent upon these, those who are in support of evidence based approaches state the intention of carrying out research to inform practice as according to (Young et al, 2002) in Morrell(2008), a common belief is that evidence is key to encouraging the adoption of practices by those who are entrusted with policy formulation or other players. The third argument propounded here is the commitment to and development of a common language with the adoption and redefinition of key terms, ‘through, ‘objective, ‘transparent, ‘rigorous, ‘systematic and ‘narrative. Here, existing criticism has overlooked the lapses in evidence based literature, yet, making it too simple, restraint and regimentation will have both political and moral implications that can lead to liberty been curtailed, Morrell, (2008). From the arguments, it is clear that evidence based approach offers a fresh scope to analysis using an esthetic that highlights the political and moral implications of the approach to management. As opined by (McLaughlin 2001) in Morrell (2008), researchers aspire to a way of evaluating the quality of proven evidence. Morrell argues that the apparent lack of a common ground in management studies is a problem because consensus is needed if the study of management will grow. This is because even in medicine where there seems to be a certain level of agreement, ‘the adoption of promising practices is not governed by the principles of evidence, robust scientific evidence is not, of itself, sufficient to ensure diffusion Morrell (2008). The fourth and final article under review, ‘Dynamic Capabilities and Knowledge Management: an Integrative Role for Learning?, Eaerby-Smith and Prieto (2008), discusses the dynamic capabilities approach of strategic management (Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000; Teece, Pisano and Shuen, 1997) in Easterby-Smith and Prieto (2008) which sets out to show why some organizations succeed more than others in building competitive advantage within changing markets. Here, the management of knowledge has been put forward as a primary strategic initiative and the most important factor that will guarantee a sustained competitive edge for companies (Grant, 1996) in Easterby-Smith and Prieto (2008). While the dynamic capabilities school emphasizes the renewal of resources by reconfiguring them into new capabilities and competencies as posited by (Teece, Pisano and Shuen, 1997) in Easterby-Smith and Prieto (2008), While the dynamic capabilities school emphasizes the renewal of resources by reconfiguring them into new capabilities and competencies as posited by (Teece, Pisano and Shuen, 1997) in Easterby-Smith and Prieto (2008), according to (Cepeda and Vera, 2005) in Easterby-Smith and Prieto (2008), knowledge management research often focuses on providing solutions to managers to create, retain transfer and use an enterprises explicit and tacit knowledge. This article under review relates to the debate in the sense it shares some views with the other authors. According to Easterby-Smith and Prieto (2008), there are times when researchers, without been aware of it, use ideas and models drawn from other fields not knowing the discussions that have lead to the constructs coming to light, and this sometimes leads to a confusion of concepts between the fields. Again, because researchers may not know the potential limitations in the other field, they may build their research on quick sand. Furthermore, without proper information of the other field, researchers may loss opportunities to better develop their own fields. In relation to the other articles, the idea of knowledge management has become important due to the increased awareness of the importance of knowledge for a companies prosperity and survival, (Grant, 1996; Kogut and Zander, 1992) in Easterby-Smith and Prieto (2008). In this article, Lave and Wenger (1991), come up with the idea that knowledge is ‘situated in the practice of everyday work, while (Cook and Yanow, 1993; Nicolini and Meznar, 1995; Nicolini, Gherardi and Yanow, 2003) propound the idea that organizational knowledge is sustained through social processes within ‘communities of practice. In the light of all that that has been reviewed, it can be deduced that even though the writers of these articles seek to find the right approach to solving the problems of organizational research, they go about it in different ways and have their own views. They however share similar ideas and even though there is no consensus. REFERENCES: Easterby-Smith, M., Prieto, I.M. (2008), Dynamic Capabilities and Knowledge Management: an Integrative Role for Learning? British Journal of Management, 19, pp235-249. Morrell, K. (2008), â€Å"The Narrative of ‘Evidence Based Management: A polemic†, Journal of Management Studies, vol.45 no.3, pp613-635. Pfeffer, J and Sutton, R, (2006), ‘Evidence based management, Harvard Business Review, Jan, pp63-74. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, E. (2007), ‘Research methods for Business Students, London: Prentice Hall, pp4-9.

Promotion and Pricing Strategies

Week 8 e-Activity Use the Internet or the Strayer Library to research a recent situation that has caused a business, not-for-profit organization, or government agency to suffer from bad publicity. Be prepared to discuss. â€Å"Promotion and Pricing Strategies† Please respond to the following: From the e-Activity, evaluate the situation of the organization you researched. Create a program outlining steps the organization might take to build better public relations. Ensure their search engines are being far to the consumer’s wants and needs.Rewrite its policy and procedures for marketing to support the consumers not just the brands they have a market share in. Employ outside audit agency to ensure coding is not limiting, collecting, or distributing user information even if it is for marketing. Take fault where fault should be taken, after all how can you say you don’t put other websites before others yet have a marketing team where you can buy key words that help m ove you up in your rankings. Source: http://www. computerworld. com/s/article/9230149/Bad_press_may_affect_Google_more_than_FTC_s_22. M_fine http://www. reuters. com/article/2012/10/12/us-google-ftc-antitrust-idUSBRE89B16G20121012 http://www. computerworld. com/s/article/9234096/Google_CEO_Page_said_to_meet_with_FTC http://www. nytimes. com/2012/10/13/technology/ftc-staff-prepares-antitrust-case-against-google-over-search. html? pagewanted=all From Case Study 13. 3, analyze the airline’s marketing strategy; its use of social media and free publicity. Speculate whether or not this strategy will allow the airline to reach its target market. Provide a rationale with your response.Pet travel is becoming part of the norm for travelers. Interesting is that hotel have started to adapt a more pet friend attitude to pets yet it took the airline industry a little longer to recognize this new segmented market. As a pet lover my dog goes with me on vacation so often I find it a challenge to find a flight to get my dog to go with me but easy to find places to rent. There are a lot of regulations for most companies that offer this service such as pet weight, bread, container of travel, and even destination. And I found all this true for Pet Airways as well.They seem to have a great concept but if you look at other airlines such as JetPaws better known as jetBlue not only do you get rewards points but there are more destinations and options for your pet. There are concerns with Pet Airways such as I’d rather my pet be on the same flight as me but as good as it sounds your pet will be on their own plan with other pets. With price ranging from 299 on up there are cheaper and faster options out there. Looking at the public relations side of the house I found several articles that spoke about writers visiting the Pet Airways but not given information or even a look at the pet holding area.There is one thing for sure those with pets who are taking this much care to make sure their pet is with them are more than likely going to want to check the entire facility out before checking their pets in. Just as the airline would do if you want your pet to fly with them. So this is where I would start: 8) Advertise in the top 3 animal pet stores (PetSmart, PetCo, and Pet Supplies Plus). 9) Take their youtube video (http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=sc2lvz1LGTc) and send out emails to customers via the top animal pet stores, local veterinarians in markets they service. Source: http://seniortravel. about. com/od/airtravel/a/PetAirways. htm

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a dramatic novel filled with irony, fear and truth. It touches on many issues surrounding government, Christianity and democracy. The book focuses on society and through its effective use of conflict, gives us an idea what life would like without rules and civilization. The novel tells a story of a plane filled with British school boys that crashes on a deserted island during World War 2. The boys, struggling to survive, test their morals, values and beliefs. Conflict is developed throughout the novel in the form of man vs. ature, man vs. man, man vs. himself, and man vs. society. The first type of conflict that is developed in this novel in man vs. nature. The boys are stranded on an uninhabited, uncivilized island and have very limited resources available to them at their disposal. To survive, the boys start testing their morals and their survival instincts. At first, the boys are hesitant to do things that seem to be un-ethical, but eventually, even thought it conflicts with their prior beliefs, the boys give in and do what is necessary to survive. In the beginning of this novel, Jack and Ralph set out to explore the island. On their adventure they encounter a pig, which they realize would be good meat and make good food for the group. Jack is at first reluctant to kill the pig, because the idea of killing a living thing disturbs him and goes against his moral conduct. Throughout the novel, not only does Jack eventually accept and kill pigs, but, towards the end, Jack's warrior identity brutally murdered the sow and hung his head on a stick. One could say he developed a sort of sick obsession with killing. When he once killed out of necessity, he now kills just for sport. Another type of conflict that is present and dominant in this novel is man vs. man. In everyday life, people’s different personalities cause disagreements and arguments. As with any group of people, everyone will not always agree on everything and see eye to eye. When you are talking about a bunch of kids with no adult figure to control them, the arguments and disagreements are pushed to an extreme. To better civilize the island, the boys decide to elect a leader, essentially an adult figure to keep things in order. Ralph gets elected as leader, which isn’t to Jack’s liking. Jack’s jealousy causes the boys to be in constant competition trying to prove that they are better suited for the job. The competition eventually causes the group to split into two different â€Å"tribes,† with Ralph as one leader and Jack as the other. The boys are fighting and arguing constantly. The splitting of the group marks the point where the boys make shift society crumbles. A third type of conflict is man vs. himself which is also a prominent type of conflict found in this novel. During the course of this novel the boys experience a lot of internal conflict. Each individual character in the novel must struggle with this and essentially choose to retain their ‘civilization' or join with the ‘savages. ‘ Not only do they experience regular, everyday conflict, like we all do- doubts and fears confronting with knowledge and heart. Struggling with decisions to be made and whether the decision is the right one. -the boys also battle between the pervious beliefs that their parent’s/guardians have instilled in them vs. heir survival instincts. Ralph experiences inner conflict while trying to make the groups decisions; doubting whether he is a good leader; wishing he was more logical like Piggy. Simon, very obviously experienced inner conflict through talking to the Lord of the Flies. In fact, Lord of the Flies was simply a product of Simon’s dehydration and inner thoughts. Simon drove himself crazy while struggling with his internal conflict, to the point where he became internally damaged. Samneric also experience inner conflict towards the end of this novel. They were loyal to Ralph and wanted to stick by him, but they knew in order to survive they must join Jack’s tribe. Even though they didn’t like Jack, and disagreed with him and his savagery, they did what they had to do to survive. The final type of conflict found in this novel is man vs. society. From the beginning of the novel, the boys form what seems to be a democratic group. The things that they do, like electing a leader, assigning jobs and positions, and creating a set of rules to live by all support the makings of any democratic group. Some of the boy’s opinions conflict with the society’s, and the boys begin to question the rules. Jack actually challenges the society by trying to get Ralph to be kicked off as their leader and to get himself elected in his place, this marks the first major conflict within their makeshift society. When Jack breaks off from society and takes a group of boys with him, the â€Å"society† is totally disregarded. Jack and his tribe become total savages, leaving the rules and the society with them. The total disregard for society is what ultimately causes the deaths of both Simon and Piggy. The boys because they broke away from society and no longer have any rules, decent so far into savagery that they aren’t even aware how horrible their actions are. This novel efficiently uses many different types of conflict to show us how society would deteriorate and turn into chaos without rules. The boys on the island go from being well-mannered school boys to savages in a matter of weeks. It shows us that even though we all imagine how nice it would be if we totally disregarded all rules, that society would cease to exist without them! Lord of the Flies by William Golding Working his way up Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Ralph a character in Lord of the Flies by William Golding achieves needs for self actualization. Based on Ralph’s behavior he fulfills each need of the lower level before going up, thus he supports Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Towards the end of the novel Ralph was hungry and knew his life was in grave danger because Jacks troops were hunting him. He sacrificed his safety for needs to get food, a basic physical need. Ralph approached Sam and Eric to gather information and hopefully receive some of the pig so that he could eat. Ralph screamed, a scream of fright and anger and desperation†¦he swerved as a spear flew past and then was silent, running. † In that scene of the book Ralph was being chased by Jack and his hunters. This action supports Maslow’s Hierarchy because physical needs must be fulfilled before safety. Ralph risked his needs for safety in order to get food. All the younger boys look up to Ralph so he feels their love, affection and belongingness. After the boys were done building some of the shelters they asked â€Å"What should we do Ralph what should we do now? On the island Ralph gained the other boys respect and was made to be chief. After Ralph knew all the boys were behind him and respected what he had to say he was able to move up to the next level on Maslow’s Hierarchy. Ralph gained self esteem in that he possessed the conch shell, thus helping him achieve self actualization or becoming the chief. Once all the boys were gathered on beach by the mighty blow of the conch, they wanted to vote for a chief and Ralph won unanimously. â€Å"Let him be chief with the trumpet thing. Ralph raised his hand for silence. † Right then Ralph had the respect of the boys. Achieving needs for esteem leading to self actualization in that he had become what he was chief. Ralph achieved Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs because he was â€Å"born to be† chief, supporting the theory. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is applicable in real life; people fallow the different levels in everyday activities. However it is difficult to accomplish yet alone maintain self actualization because people struggle with self-esteem and belongingness. Ralph was able to do so because he was one of the older boys on the island which made him more responsible. He stepped up to the table and focused on what he needed to do for his survival.

The Security Vs. Freedom - 955 Words

7. Security VS Freedom Devlin constructs the argument that there should be no limitation to the preservation of morality, just as there are none in the prevention of treason, since both are imperative to a society. This assumes that the state should have unlimited power when it comes to preventing acts against the society. The debate between security and freedom however, shows that this is not an undisputed fact. Without picking a side, it is still evident that just because something is perceived as being mandatory for a society’s continuation, it does not ostensibly indicate that it should be automatically accepted. In fact, it could be the case that certain societies should be left to disintegrate in the first place. 8. Cultural Relativism and Maintaining a Society Devlin’s legal moralism seems to suggest that as long as a society shares a common view in morality, it is right in defending it. A problem arises however, when one considers the fact that different societies can hold drastically opposing views. Certain societies may even possess morality so abhorrent that it should not be upheld (e.g. cannibalistic tribes). Devlin s account of legal moralism â€Å"implies that a corrupt and immoral society has as much right to perpetuate itself as a decent society, provided it is able to integrate the society† (Stanton-Ife, â€Å"The Limits of Law†). This is view should be intuitively rejected. Furthermore, the idea that the morality (and its validity) of each society is derived fromShow MoreRelatedFreedom vs. Security?1894 Words   |  8 PagesFreedom vs. Security? Place yourself in the safety and comfort of your home, under the belief that â€Å"everyone has the right to the use and enjoyment of his property† (Department of International Law), searching, emailing, and talking about things that may be frowned upon by others. Now imagine the raw feelings of fear and deception that would wash over you upon seeing Edward Snowden’s statement on how â€Å"the U.S. government is destroying privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for peopleRead MoreFreedom vs Security - George Orwell, 19842554 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿Freedom vs. Security: 1984, a Mirror of Today’s Governments and their Methods of Mass Control Tanks to technology and, mostly, its applications in the field of communication, governments and business corporations from all around the world have now more power than ever to track and influence what we buy, what we listen to, what we read, what we watch and, ultimately, what we believe. Recent terrorist threats and armed conflicts that have taken place around the globe have prompted a general feelingRead MoreThe Civil Liberties Of The United States Essay1513 Words   |  7 PagesCivil liberties is the individual rights and freedoms that government is obliged to protect, normally by not interfering in the exercise of these rights and freedoms. However, over the years the rights for the people have either have become open and free or it has become restrictive. The bill of rights in terms of scope in civil liberties protection has changed by three paths such three paths are increased in authority of federal government, the Supreme court shifted its interpretation of constitutionalR ead MoreThe United States Of America851 Words   |  4 PagesThe United States of America is a state full of mixtures of beliefs on politics and much more. As a state, we started out with very traditional values in our culture. Our culture is focused on many things such as freedom but we are preoccupied with our rights due to the freedoms which puts limits on what we do as a state. Being a traditional state, we started out as a materialistic mind set rather than post-materialistic. As the United States has aged, the people and culture have changed to a moreRead MoreVulnerable To Hacking917 Words   |  4 Pagesexchange, because it is authorized per person firewall. The assailant ought to early take advantage of the waiter, and most effective and after that can he infiltrate the firewall.Your Company’s Firewall Security is Vulnerable to Hacking. http://blog.exterchains.com/your-corporations-firewall-freedom-is-vulnerable-to-gashing Some of ones tools utilized by clipers culprit or honorable are designed to verify the vulnerabilities of a organization. Devices which are well-known mutilate a net can get itRead MoreThe Security Of Our Nation1359 Words   |  6 Pagesour nation was established, security was not an issue. The towns then were little and almost everyone knew their fellow neighbors and what was going on. The security of the individual is an essential right. Without protection, the vote based framework that we know would not exist. Protection is one of the central qualities on which our nation was established. There are special cases to the protection of our rights that are made by the requirement for resistance and security. In every country, the needRead MoreDatabase Management System Software ( Dbms )1557 Words   |  7 Pagesthe types of DBMS software. The type of DBMS software required can often be narrowed down to the organization’s size and industry (Mohamed 2016). Currently, the top three DBMSs are Oracle, MySQL, and Microsoft SQL Server (â€Å"Microsoft SQL Server vs. MySQL vs. Oracle Comparison† 2016). Each having its own forte; however, in this assessment, only MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server (MS SQL Server) will by compared and contrasted to one another in the aspects of an organization’s needs, the hardware requirementsRead MoreEssay about Individual Privacy vs. National Security1039 Words   |  5 PagesIndividual Privacy vs. National Security Antonio Ewings ENG 122 English Compositions 2 Instructor: Sarah McDonald January 16, 2012 Individual Privacy vs. National Security Individual privacy is basically the exposure of a person’s limitations to the open public. There are different perspectives in different scenarios on a person’s individual privacy. Every human has a right to their own privacy. Some people scream more than others on how much privacy they actually have. In a perfect worldRead MoreThe Results Of The Study Showed There Was No Effect On872 Words   |  4 Pagesfor controls saying yes in comparison to other groups, χ2(3) = 9.00, p .05. Contrast analysis showed that all relationship primes were affected by worse decision-making when preoccupied about a partner. Anxious vs. control contrast: p = .015, avoidance vs. control: p = .084, and secure vs. control: p = .12. (Results for investment decision-making) The results for financial risk-taking shows that out of the six items, there was a significant main effect for prime on two of the items: Portfolio choiceRead MoreIndividual Privacy vs. National Security: A Report628 Words   |  3 PagesIndividual Privacy vs National Security In liberal-democratic societies, the right to individual privacy is among the core components of the democratic system. The right to privacy is enshrined in the Constitution of the United States and is a part of value systems Americans are proud of and cherish. Concepts related to privacy touch on freedom, trust, the right to be left alone, obedience, and free will (Michael Michael, 2006, p. 360). The privacy needs of citizens, however, can be fully met