Rosalie Holian

Management decision making, ethical issues and “emotional” intelligence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to update and expand a model described in a previous paper by the author (Holian, 2002), which categorised practices, skills and preferences of practising managers and management consultants.Design/methodology/approach – A case study and qualitative interviews provided the data used as the basis for development of a model of ethical decision‐making behaviour.Findings – This paper extends the previous work to include a mode of “Narcissism” as a further category of behaviour. It builds on the analysis and application of findings from the previous original research study, discusses links with research on “emotional intelligence”, and describes applications to management practice and management education.Research limitations/implications – A model with five modes of ethical decision making and four sets of associated skills is presented and discussed.Practical implications – This paper includes practical implications for managers, consultants and management educators.Ori...

Editorial: insider action research

The theory and the practice of insider action research (IAR) have been afforded increasing attention over the past seven years or so. The publication in 2001 of Coghlan and Brannick’s Doing action research in your own organization appeared to give voice to a practice that was struggling for legitimacy and which hitherto had not been framed in a manner that facilitated its place in the action research literature (Brannick & Coghlan, forthcoming). In the intervening years since 2001, both further articulations of theory and accounts of practice have burgeoned to the extent that a second edition of Coghlan and Brannick was requested by Sage (Coghlan & Brannick, 2005). Doing research in and on one’s own organization means that a member of an organization undertakes an explicit research role in addition to the normal functional role that they hold in the organization. The researcher then has to balance their organizational role, which they usually hope will continue, with the additional demands of a role of inquiry and research. Insider action researchers need to be aware of how their roles influence how they view their world as well as how they are perceived by others, and to be able to make choices as to when to step into and out of each of the multiple roles they hold. The contributions included here all discuss roles: role negotiation (Ravitch and Wirth), holding multiples roles which are often in conflict explicitly (Humphrey; Moore), insider/ outsider role (Roth, Shani and Leary), being an employee and a researcher (Roth, Shani and Leary; Moore), and relational roles in the community (Braithwaite, Cockwill, O’Neill and Rebane). Doing action research means being engaged in a more rigorous series of diagnosing situations, planning and taking action and evaluating than is perhaps the norm. There are many issues to be considered for those embarking on research within their own organization. For those seeking to do the research in order to achieve academic certification there are often issues pertaining to both their academic directors and their organizational superiors. These include issues of gaining access and receiving permission, and building and maintaining support from peers and relevant sub-systems within the organization. There are also issues related to selecting a research question and area for study. Those who are student-researchers in effect take on an additional role to their conventional organizational one, that of also being active agents of inquiry. They are also likely to Action Research

The practice of management education in Australian universities

This paper is based on reflections around the following three broad questions: “Can management be taught or do management educators simply teach those who are or wish to become managers?”. “Can management educators and scholars become effective managers?”; “Can managers become effective management educators and scholars?” The roles of management educators in Australia include those employed in staff development in organizations, management consultants and academic staff in business schools and management departments of universities. This paper focuses on management education in universities in Australia, where educators may be academic discipline experts, teachers who have come into management department, or managers who have moved into academia. They may teach management theory, explore the links between theory and practice, focus on the development of assessable competencies, or all of these. Regarding current challenges facing management education, are we avoiding changes necessary in tertiary education or resisting the erosion of important educational values and standards? Considering the future of management education, both locally and globally, what part can universities play?

Management decision making and ethics: practices, skills and preferences

This article summarises the findings from a study of practising managers which explored experiences of and views on decision making about actual ethical issues in organisations. Data gathering was based on a combination of an intensive case study of an organisation and in‐depth interviews with senior managers and management consultants from 32 organisations. A rigorous qualitative analysis of the observed experiences, strategies and responses to ethical issues and problems resulted in categorisation of skills associated with: judgement, integrity, courage and humanity. The different ways in which these skills were integrated led to approaches identified as: legalistic, entrepreneurial, navigation and worried modes. The repertoire of skills which contributes to selection of these alternative approaches and implications for the development of ethical decision making practices are discussed.

Work, career, age and life-stage: assumptions and preferences of a multigenerational workforce

With increasing levels of age diversity in the labour force, it is now possible to find workplaces with teams comprising members from at least three ‘generations’. To date, extensive research has been conducted to explore ways in which ‘Generation X’ and ‘Generation Y’ (or Millennials) may need to be managed differently from ‘Baby Boomers’. Many of the recommendations have been framed to enhance the ability of older managers to better understand younger workers. While this paper addresses these issues, it also considers the growing need for younger managers to develop strategies and skills that will assist with the management of older workers. It is concluded that the provision of flexible, equitable and fair working conditions will assist organisations in attracting and retaining the best candidates from all ‘generations’.

Action research for HRD research

This chapter explores the theory and practice of action research and how it may be utilized in HRD research. Action researchs distinctive characteristics are that it addresses the twin tasks of bringing about change in organizations and in generating actionable knowledge, through focusing on real organizational problems or issues.