This edited book provides a conceptual framework of managing flexibility in the areas of people, process, technology and business supported by researches/case applications in various types of flexibilities in business. The book is organized into following five parts: (i) Managing Flexibility; (ii) People Flexibility; (iii) Process Flexibility; (iv) Flexibility in Technology and Innovation Management; and (v) Business Flexibility. Managing flexibility at the level of people, process, technology and business encompasses the requirements of both choice and speed. The need for managing flexibility is growing to cope with the developments and challenges in the global business environment. This can be seen from reactive as well as proactive perspectives. Flexibility is a major dimension of business excellence and deals with a paradoxical view point such as stability and dynamism, continuity and change, centralization and decentralization, and so on. It needs to be managed at the levels of people, process, technology and various business functions and it is important to create flexibility at the level of people to create and manage flexibility in processes and technologies in order to support flexible business requirements.

This book focuses on strategic and operational human resources, giving the reader the core curriculum of subjects usually presented in an MBA program specialized in organizational behaviour and human resource management. The topics covered can be applied to a variety of real world business situations. This book aims to contribute to the growth and development of individuals in a competitive and global economy, by covering the latest developments in the field of human resources management. Innovative practices and theories as well as the current policies and practices of HRM are described in this book.

This set brings together two essential books in understanding how to deliver and manage business transformation - A Handbook of Business Transformation Management Methodology and Business Transformation Essentials. The Handbook of Business Transformation Management Methodology providesa '360-degree' view on what business transformation means and how to manage it successfully. Suitable for business executives dealing with organizational change, illustrative case studies ensure this is also a valuable resource for academics interested in change and transformation management. Using a variety of case studies including: Allianz SE, Shell, SAP, Vodafone, and Mercedes-Benz, Business Transformation Essentials provides unprecedented insights into characteristics of current transformation programs and the potential that can be leveraged by applying a holistic transformation management approach.

The author of this volume illustrates how decision-making in organizations has to go beyond economic criteria and the individual level, due to the impossibility of making decisions that do not affect other human beings. The book first reviews the conventional analyses of decision-making, including the classical analysis of uncertainty and the multiple criteria decision-making with qualitative aspects, that do not take into account explicitly how decisions affect other people. Following this, the author puts forward a model for analyzing decisions, which takes into consideration the effects on other people. Decision-Making in an Organizational Context highlights the consequences of organizational decision-making and suggests the principles of effectiveness, attractiveness and unity of the organization that should guide it. The volume finishes up by applying this framework of analysis to real-world situations.

This volume provides up-to-date reviews of the research on a number of social and ethical issues of increasing concern confronting today's managers and organizations. The authors, who are recognized international experts on the topics they treat, provide new theories and innovative perspectives on these issues. Further, they use a research base to identify ways for managers and human resources professionals to address these issues in their organizations. Given its breadth of coverage, practitioners faced with these issues, as well as researchers and graduate students in management and organizational psychology, should find this volume of interest. This collection of ten chapters provides the cutting edge on a number of the most pressing challenges in management today. Readers of the volume will discover new models, innovative theoretical approaches, comprehensive reviews, theoretical and methodological critiques, and specific and insightful suggestions for research on these different social and ethical issues facing organizations. Perhaps more importantly, the practical suggestions that come from the research provide a useful bridge between what we know and what we can do to address these challenges, and thus contribute, even in a small way, to workplaces that respect ethics and individuals in all their diversity.

Although considered the best approach to motivation in terms of theoretical soundness for some 25 years, expectancy theory was considered lacking in applications. For the first time this book presents an application model that gives practical value to the expectancy theory of motivation thus enabling managers to use it to improve individual and organizational performance. While other theories of motivation provide a theoretical framework for thinking about and understanding what motivates people in the workplace, the application model presented here for the expectancy theory of motivation goes far beyond this to provide a practical framework for diagnosing and solving individual motivation problems. Emphasis is not on simple motivation problems with straightfoward solutions, but instead the focus is on how to handle difficult motivation problems, and how to deal with them in difficult circumstances, such as when the manager does not have all of the resources or authority needed to solve the problem. The application model has a bottom-line, problem-solving orientation with a focus on the individuality of employees. The book describes specific things managers can say and do to identify potential and existing motivation problems in the early stages before they get out of hand. Techniques for determining the causes of individual motivation problems are presented. Practical solution approaches are offered along with guidelines for choosing solutions that match problem causes and suggestions for effectively implementing the solutions. The core of the application model is found in a one-on-one format for managers to follow in working with individual employees to jointly identify motivationproblems, causes, and solutions. The principal contribution of the application model rests with the special ways presented for dealing with difficult motivation problems when the manager's hands are tied relative to the solutions that can be offered.

Leading authors within organization studies and also from broader social science disciplines present the state of the art in the rapidly developing field of psychosocial approaches to organization studies and critical management studies.

Are you considering a dean's position? Are you a new dean? Are you a sitting dean that would like some ideas on managing your organization? This book offers advice and important information for anyone working at the dean's level in academic administration. Written in a conversational tone and organized by major topics such as Managing Faculty, Students, Strategic Planning, etc, this book will inform anyone about the many tasks required of a dean as well as provide advice on how to do them well. This book was written by Dr. Terri Friel, an administrator for 7 years. She worked as an engineer and managed production at Procter and Gamble and Pepsico and applies this management experience and knowledge as well as her Doctorate studies in Engineering Management to develop a good overview of the job of Dean. While there are general books written about the topic of academic administration, this is one of the only books that specifically addresses the issues of being a dean. If you just think you want to be a dean or are working as a dean currently, this book will be a helpful guide and reference for you.

Creating Knowledge Based Organizations brings together high quality concepts closely related to organizational learning, knowledge workers, intellectual capital, virtual teams and will include the methodologies, systems and approaches needed to create and manager knowledge-based organizations of the 21st Century.

Organizations are facing major disruptions in technology, consumer preferences, and in the makeup of their workforce, and as a result, they will need to adapt to these rapidly changing times to stay effective. Organizations that are able to tap into the collective knowledge of their employees and leverage their insights will have an advantage over those that lack this connectivity. Implementing a knowledge management (KM) strategy can help organizations improve operational effectiveness, innovation, and adapt to changes, but the majority of KM implementations fail due to misalignment with the organization's existing culture. Organizational culture can enable effective KM, or it can be a barrier to its implementation. The Handbook of Research on Organizational Culture Strategies for Effective Knowledge Management and Performance defines the relationship between organizational culture and knowledge management and how they impact one another. This handbook also identifies critical business practices to assist organizations in transitioning to work from home while maintaining a strong corporate culture that includes beneficial knowledge-sharing behaviors. Covering topics including knowledge management, organizational culture, and change management, this text is essential for managers, executives, practitioners, leaders in business, non-profits, academicians, researchers, and students looking for research on how organizations can thrive and adapt due to emerging global disruptions as well as local or internal disruptions.

From medicine to education, evidence-based approaches aim to evaluate and apply scientific evidence to a problem in order to arrive at the best possible solution. Thus, using scientific knowledge to inform the judgment of managers and the process of decision-making in organizations, Evidence-based Management (EBMgt) is the science-informed practice of management.
Written by leading experts in the study and practice of EBMgt, The Oxford Handbook of Evidence-based Management provides an overview of key EBMgt ideas and puts them in context of promoting evidence-based practice. Furthermore, it addresses the roles and contributions of practitioners, educators, and scholars -- the primary constituents of EBMgt -- while providing perspectives and resources for each. Divided into three sections (research, practice, and education), this handbook examines the realities of everyday management practice and the role EBMgt can play in improving managerial decision making and employee well being and instructs educators in their roles as designers of curricula and resources.
As the first major volume to capture the spirit of this emerging movement, The Oxford Handbook of Evidence-based Management shows how practitioners can use high-quality knowledge gleaned from scientific research in order to make better use of available data and ultimately make more mindful decisions.

This book presents an in-depth perspective of knowledge as a fundamental process of any organization rather than just another resource to be managed. The author presents a process-oriented theory of creating and applying knowledge directed towards bothresearchers and practitioners. In this book the author develops normative knowledge management guidelines which draw from a unique view on knowledge, discussed in the field of philosophy since Plato but neglected by most knowledgemanagement authors - by applying a philosophically grounded 'social epistemology' to organizations. The guidelines in this book call for an open and reflective space of knowledge creation, aligned with goals and structures of the organization. Numerous examples, field studies, and an application to the main case study on Seven-Eleven Japan complement both the descriptive view on knowledge as well as the normative guidelines presented in this book. "

Alliances and outsourcing are flavors of the month, says the author of this succinct, tightly reasoned book, but how much is known about how to make them succeed? Too many are initiated for the wrong reasons, improperly thought out, and--as quick solutions to difficult problems--they just don't work. Dr. Milgate does not try to sell alliances and outsourcing as options, but instead asks, why consider them at all? And what must you do to get the most out of them, if you decide to proceed? He offers practical advice and illustrates it with real-world case study examples. The result is a lucid, readable advisory for corporate decision makers and a useful classroom aid for their academic colleagues.

Never have pressures on corporations to trim down in size been so great. But Dr. Milgate's research shows that corporations' efforts to make themselves lean, to focus on core competencies, and to create mutually advantageous alliances with other corporations have not paid off. The lean organization is clearly the paradigm for business at the start of the new millennium, but how is it achieved? Instead of pure theory, Dr. Milgate offers practical advice and illustrates it with real-world case studies, chosen for their ability to demonstrate best practices in lean organizations and to provide answers to questions that, inevitably, arise repeatedly. He agrees that corporations must focus on the basics and leverage their core competencies up through a range of alliances and outsourcings, toward the goal of creating a best of everything organization. But too many alliances and outsourcing strategies are initiated for the wrong reasons, improperly thought out, and--as quick solutions to difficult problems--they just don't work. Dr. Milgate tells us why and gives us strategic guidance on the critical issues that corporate decision makers must address as they strive to make their organizations as competitive as they must be in order to compete in the new global economy. The result is a succinct, lucid advisory for upper echelon executives and a necessary classroom aid for their academic colleagues.

The study of altruism, morality, and social solidarity is an emerging field of scholarship and research in sociology. This handbook will function as a foundational source for this subject matter and field, and as an impetus to its further development.

Part of the Comparative Work and Employment Relations series, Putting Labour in its Place is an edited collection, containing cutting-edge research and theoretical innovation on global value chains, the nature of work and labour process theory. It addresses the different processes around the world that each add value to the goods or services being produced; whilst also analysing the idea of labour itself and the exploitation surrounding it. Key benefits: - Written by leading international academics. - A landmark text combining the growing interest in global value chains with labour process theory. - Provides up-to-date critical analysis of global developments.

This book argues that by integrating effective knowledge management (KM) with project management (PM), the overall project success rate can be improved significantly. It brings together the latest ideas and research on shared approaches to improve performance based on the research and experience of academics and practitioners. The structured collection of articles presents novel theoretical approaches and clear empirical evidence of the value of integrating the two distinct fields. It enables readers to better understand the need to merge KM with PM and appreciate the benefits. It also offers researchers an idea of what lies ahead and how to get there, and helps practitioners develop more suitable KM solutions for successful project outcomes.

The broad field of employment relations is diverse and complex and is under constant development and reinvention. This Research Handbook discusses fundamental theories and approaches to work and employment relations, and their connection to broader political and societal changes occurring throughout the world. It provides comprehensive coverage of work and employment relations theory and practice. This up-to-date research compendium has drawn together a range of international authors from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. There are chapters from labor historians, theoreticians, more mainstream industrial relations scholars, sociologists, organizational psychologists, geographers, policy advisors, economists and lawyers. At the heart of each chapter is the notion that the world of work and employment relations has changed substantially since the halcyon days of IR, throughout the Dunlop Era of the 1950s. However many areas of enquiry remain, and more questions have developed with society and technology. This Handbook reflects this view. As the field of study and practice continues to evolve throughout the twenty-first century - what lessons have we learned from the past and what can we expect in the future? Academics and postgraduate students researching industrial relations, human resource management, employment relations, industrial sociology and sociology of work will find this important resource invaluable.

This book provides a knowledge-based view to the dynamic capabilities in an organization. The author integrates two existing views on gaining competitive advantage: the Knowledge View which suggests that the capability of organizations to learn faster than competitors is the only source of competitiveness; and the Dynamic Capability View which speculates that a firm's competitive advantage rests on dynamic capabilities which enable a firm to constantly renew the stock of ordinary organizational capabilities in accordance with the changes in the business environment. Using the IT sector in India as a case study, this book provides and tests a new framework--Knowledge-Based Dynamic Capabilities-in the prediction of competitive advantage in organizations.

Now in its fourth edition, this excellent text continues its trademark approach with contributions from scholars committed to thinking differently. Each chapter is written by topic specialists who explore key issues in an effective, thought-provoking way. Exploring the divisions and associated debates, the title adopts a selective and critical approach to established organizational behaviour topics while thoroughly engaging students in the subject.

The proceedings from the eighth KMO conference represent the findings of this international meeting which brought together researchers and developers from industry and the academic world to report on the latest scientific and technical advances on knowledge management in organizations. This conference provided an international forum for authors to present and discuss research focused on the role of knowledge management for innovative services in industries, to shed light on recent advances in social and big data computing for KM as well as to identify future directions for researching the role of knowledge management in service innovation and how cloud computing can be used to address many of the issues currently facing KM in academia and industrial sectors.

A practical guide for those who facilitate group interactions within any public or private organization, this book gives specific strategies for conducting effective meetings, resolving conflicts within a group, and building consensus among group members and managing the work of groups over time. Webne-Behrman unique combination of practical advice and conceptual analysis. With examples from his extensive consulting experience and case studies from other sources, this book will be of value not only to experienced facilitators, mediators, and consultants, but also to executives and managers who need to become familiar with group facilitation.

Webne-Behrman points out that a facilitator is actually a manager of a group within an organization--an important and diversified role. Not only do facilitators lead work teams in solving complex business problems, but in the public sector, they help resolve problems that may have rendered communities inoperative. They also manage interpersonal disputes to improve working relationships, and help build consensus on contentious social and political issues so as to help legislators create sound public policy. Webne-Behrman explains, The book will serve as a companion to the practitioner at times of greatest urgency. Included are outlines of the stages of effective meetings, strategies for managing conflict, ways to build consensus, and other specific advice on how to approach and solve problems.

This book provides a fundamental and practical introduction to Enterprise Engineering, demonstrating how to employ this approach to map the essence of an organization at the core level of internal cooperation. It then explains how, based on these insights, organizations can benefit from opportunities for improvement that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. Further, the book explains how to adapt the structure of an organization to the needs of its management and offers valuable tools for improving and perfecting it, along with guidelines on implementing profound and sustainable organizational changes. The examples and cases it presents show an increase in efficiency of up to 70% and increases in productivity and sales performance of more than 40%, once the flaws in an organization's structure have been identified and resolved.

Using the Enel case, this volume unpacks the effective implementation of an ambidextrous perspective on adaptation and change, providing some key lessons for managers and scholars. It begins by exploring Enel's recent history, before mapping the steps of a remarkable transition from public monopolist to a successful transnational group.

This comprehensive Handbook sets out the nature and scope of International Human Resource Development (IHRD) to advance our understanding of research and practice in the field. Drawing on expertise from a global team representing some of the field's most distinguished researchers, the Handbook explores a range of contextual, process and people development practice issues impacting IHRD research and practice. Focusing on IHRD as a distinct field of research and practice, the authors offer comprehensive coverage of a number of critical contextual dimensions that shape the IHRD goals that organisations pursue; impact the IHRD systems, policies and practices that are implemented; and influence the types of IHRD research questions that are investigated. The Handbook examines the processes or actions taken by organisations to globalise IHRD practices and discusses important people development practices that come within the scope of IHRD. By bringing together a variety of research strands and engaging in key debates while also acknowledging the emergent, dynamic and constantly evolving nature of the field, the authors of this Handbook have created an invaluable resource for academics, students, professionals and practitioners in IHRD, HRD, HRM, international management, organisational behaviour and leadership. Contributors: M. Alagaraja, H. Alhejji, V. Anderson, A. Ardichvili, E.E. Bennett, A. Bratton, R. Carbery, N. Clarke, N. D'Annuzio Green, T. Garavan, J. Gedro, K. Grant, C. Gubbins, M. Hammond, J. Kim, S. Kim, Y. Lai, A. McCarthy, A. McDonnell, R.R. McWhorter, H. Moon, C.T. Nolan, D. O'Shea, J. Pearson, V. Pereira, O. Pruetipibultham, W.E.A. Ruona, V. Shanahan, M. Sheehan, C. Valentin, J. Winterton