Exploring managers’ conceptions of wisdom as management practice

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 550-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fahad Alammar ◽  
David Pauleen

AbstractThis paper reports on an exploratory investigation into the concept of managerial wisdom. Six senior managers from diverse and large organisations in New Zealand were interviewed about their conception of managerial wisdom. The findings show that senior managers have a practical and positive conception of wisdom consisting of four factors: experience and knowledge, emotional intelligence, mentorship, and deliberation and consultation. The findings show that concepts of ‘spirituality’, ‘religiosity’, and, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, ‘ethics’, are all absent from the participants’ descriptions of wise managers. A tentative definition of managerial wisdom is proposed based on these findings as well as an explanation for the absence of ethics. As interest in wisdom and management continues to grow, this exploratory empirical research serves as a base for further research on the understanding and place of wisdom in management.

Author(s):  
Cecile De Klein ◽  
Jim Paton ◽  
Stewart Ledgard

Strategic de-stocking in winter is a common management practice on dairy farms in Southland, New Zealand, to protect the soil against pugging damage. This paper examines whether this practice can also be used to reduce nitrate leaching losses. Model analyses and field measurements were used to estimate nitrate leaching losses and pasture production under two strategic de-stocking regimes: 3 months off-farm or 5 months on a feed pad with effluent collected and applied back to the land. The model analyses, based on the results of a long-term farmlet study under conventional grazing and on information for an average New Zealand farm, suggested that the 3- or 5-month de-stocking could reduce nitrate leaching losses by about 20% or 35-50%, respectively compared to a conventional grazing system. Field measurements on the Taieri Plain in Otago support these findings, although the results to date are confounded by drought conditions during the 1998 and 1999 seasons. The average nitrate concentration of the drainage water of a 5-month strategic de-stocking treatment was about 60% lower than under conventional grazing. Pasture production of the 5-month strategic de-stocking regime with effluent return was estimated based on data for apparent N efficiency of excreta patches versus uniformlyspread farm dairy effluent N. The results suggested that a strategic de-stocking regime could increase pasture production by about 2 to 8%. A cost/ benefit analysis of the 5-month de-stocking system using a feed pad, comparing additional capital and operational costs with additional income from a 5% increase in DM production, show a positive return on capital for an average New Zealand dairy farm. This suggests that a strategic destocking system has good potential as a management tool to reduce nitrate leaching losses in nitrate sensitive areas whilst being economically viable, particularly on farms where an effluent application system or a feed pad are already in place. Keywords: dairying, feed pads, nitrate leaching, nitrogen efficiency, productivity, strategic de-stocking


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 77-90
Author(s):  
Zuzana Vařejková

This paper deals with the education of mothers in the care of the child and is a project of qualitative empirical research. First, it presents a theoretical definition of the topic – parenting, child care and parental learning. Subsequently, it describes the methodology and results of qualitative research which dealt with the issue of parental education of mothers in child care, specifically their access to information resource.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jolita Vveinhardt ◽  
Rita Bendaraviciene ◽  
Ingrida Vinickyte

Volunteering, the volunteer’s intercultural competence and emotional intelligence contribute to intercultural education and sustainability in various societies of today. The aim of this study was to analyse the impact of emotional intelligence and intercultural competence on work productivity of volunteers. The first part of the article substantiates theoretical associations between emotional intelligence, intercultural competence and work productivity. Based on theoretical insights, empirical research methodology was prepared, which consisted of four categories divided into sub-categories that provided the structure of the question groups. The empirical research involved seven informants working in Lithuania, who welcomed volunteers from abroad. The research was conducted using the method of semi-structured interviews. The conclusions present a systematic perspective towards the role of emotional intelligence in the intercultural competence and work productivity of volunteers. In this context, emotional intelligence works as a mediating factor. The contributing role of volunteer-receiving organisations in the development of the volunteers’ emotional intelligence is also highlighted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Spencer ◽  
Katharine Charsley

AbstractEmpirical and theoretical insights from the rich body of research on ‘integration’ in migration studies have led to increasing recognition of its complexity. Among European scholars, however, there remains no consensus on how integration should be defined nor what the processes entail. Integration has, moreover, been the subject of powerful academic critiques, some decrying any further use of the concept. In this paper we argue that it is both necessary and possible to address each of the five core critiques on which recent criticism has focused: normativity; negative objectification of migrants as ‘other’; outdated imaginary of society; methodological nationalism; and a narrow focus on migrants in the factors shaping integration processes. We provide a definition of integration, and a revised heuristic model of integration processes and the ‘effectors’ that have been shown to shape them, as a contribution to a constructive debate on the ways in which these challenges for empirical research can be overcome.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Olufemi Muibi Omisakin

Entrepreneurship is an important concept in both developing and developed societies today. Although there is no consensus on the definition of entrepreneurship, it is believed to be a process of creating value by bringing together a unique package of resources to exploit entrepreneurship opportunities (Morris, 2002). This study aims to discover the economic contributions and challenges of immigrant entrepreneurs to their host country, and focuses on African small business owners in Auckland, New Zealand. Literature on immigrant entrepreneurship was reviewed, resulting in a discussion of the economic contributions of immigrant entrepreneurship as well as its challenges. Data was collected using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews, observation and field notes as the sources of inquiry. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 17 participants. All participants were African immigrant small business owners running businesses in Auckland. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data collected (Braun & Clarke, 2006). 


Author(s):  
Renata Amorim Cadena ◽  
Solange Galvão Coutinho

In this article, we describe important aspects of slide shows in ten topics, which involve: (a) the definition of this artefact; (b) its characteristics, linked to its historical development; (c) some criticism and problems in its structure and use; (d) results of empirical research regarding its use in an educational context; and (e) recommendations for improved practices in designing slideshows. The source of data was extracted from a literature review of several articles and books mainly from the areas of Education, Management and Cognitive Psychology.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olena Ovcharuk ◽  

The main approaches to the methodology of staff incentive and engagement are considered in the article. The research aim is to develop theoretical and methodological provisions, methodological approaches to the formation, functioning and development of a staff incentive scheme. Today, economics has developed several contradictory approaches to the definition of a category “staff incentive scheme”, as a consequence of ambiguous understanding of such categories as “motive” and “stimulant”, “engagement” and “incentive”. The issue of the relation between these concepts has remained controversial. In management practice, these categories are not differentiated, they are considered rather as synonymous concepts. The author has summarized the views of economists on the essence of the “incentive” and “engagement” concepts. It has been determined that, most scientists proceed from the fact that engagement is a broader concept than incentive. The article examines the engagement process from the standpoint of the stimulant impact on the motive formation. Staff incentive in an organization is not only a process but also a system, therefore, defining the technological component of the methodology, the author considered it as a system and process at the same time. The article describes the structure of a staff incentive scheme in different types of social and labor relations. As a result of studying the genesis of social and labor relations and the conceptual fundamentals of management and engagement, society development and the scientific and technological progress, the author found that development of a theoretical and methodological approach to staff incentive is efficient and meets the requirements of a new paradigm of socio-economic systems. A theoretical and methodological approach to staff incentive has been offered. This approach differs in the concepts of incentive as a system and process in the formation and support of which the object of management together with the subject is involved. The worldview aspect of the methodology was formed as a result of the development of mechanistic, humanistic, socially-oriented and participative approaches to human resources management. The cognitive component of the methodology is shown in the development of theories which reflect this evolution: classical management theories, the concept of human relations, the concept of human resources, the concept of socially responsible and ethical management.


Soil Research ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 343 ◽  
Author(s):  
RL Parfitt

Studies of allophanes from New Zealand are reviewed, and a definition of the allophane group of minerals is suggested. Three types of allophane are identified, and their structures are discussed under headings Al-rich soil allophanes, Si-rich soil allophanes and stream deposit allophanes. Examples from New Zealand soils and tephras are discussed in relation to properties, identification and weathering processes.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Staniforth ◽  
Christa Fouché ◽  
Michael O'Brien

• Summary: Members of the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) were asked to provide their definition of social work. Over 300 responses were analysed thematically in order to determine if practitioner views corresponded to recent shifts in social work education and theory which emphasized the importance of social change, strengths based perspectives and the importance of local and indigenous contexts. • Findings: The findings demonstrate that while there was some recognition of social change and strengths-based perspectives in the definitions of social work provided, that those working in the field remain focused on ‘helping individuals, families and groups’ engage in change. Respondents did not, for the most part, acknowledge local or indigenous perspectives in their definitions. • Applications: Results from this study may be useful for social work professional organizations, and social work educators, students and future researchers who are interested in the definition of social work and its scopes of practice.


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