Organisations in and around Britain continue to restructure and downsize their workforce. Redundancies and reorganisation of staff remains a major aspect of internal organisational change. However, the effects of redundancy on those who remain, the survivors, are still little understood (Armstrongstassen, 1993a). This paper attempts to rectify this situation by reviewing theories principally developed in North America within a British context. In particular, the research identifies how organisational justice theories (e.g., Bies et al, 1988; Greenberg, 1990; McFarlin & Sweeney, 1992) are a means to understand the potential effects on survivors of redundancy. The literature review is supported by empirical research which has been conducted in two major British organisations who have experienced significant downsizing and restructuring. The research aim was to explore the range of reactions; emotional attitudinal and behavioural which were experienced by the survivors of a redundancy programme. Data was collected using a variety of methods, including focus groups, in-depth semi-structured interviews and a company wide survey in both case study organisations. The results enabled the development of a conceptual framework which extends previous understanding of the effects of redundancy on survivors. The conceptual framework draws together the current findings with previous research in this field formulating an overview of the factors which influence survivor reactions. Understanding survivor reactions helps to further the knowledge of the potentially damaging effects of redundancy on the future of an organisation. The results indicate that organisational justice theories indeed promote the understanding of the effects of redundancy. In previous studies the emphasis has been laid on distributive and procedural justice (e.g., Daly & Geyer, 1994; Brockner & Greenberg, 1990), however, the current study highlights the importance of interactional justice. The results suggest that survivors reactions are particularly dependent on the interpersonal treatment they receive from both the management team and their immediate line manager or supervisor. Further analysis shows that the communication and amount of interaction a survivor receives from their line manager influences their level of organisational commitment, job insecurity, job satisfaction and turnover intention. Survivors who perceived they had a 'good' relationship with their line manager were less likely to react negatively to the redundancy programme. The research also indicates that survivors were influenced by their work environment and their work colleagues. The analysis found that when survivors perceived their work colleagues to react negatively to the redundancies, they were more likely to react negatively themselves. In practical terms, when implementing redundancies, management should be aware of the potentially damaging effects not only on those who leave, but also on the survivors. The research indicates that the 'line manager' holds a very important role in maintaining the morale and motivation of the remaining staff. The ability to maintain good communication and support to employees can help in the future success of the organisation. The framework developed in this study builds on previous research and introduces new variables found to be important in the field.

This paper contributes to the debate on the process and the efficacy of Western management 'knowledge' transfer by casting light on the ways in which it has had an impact on the largely neglected area of public service and public administration. The study from which the paper derives took place in 1997 and 1998 in two social services departments in regions south of Moscow, and in the Ministry of Labour and Social Development (formerly Social Protection) in Moscow. The author is a British management academic acting as a consultant to the development of social work management on a recent Tacis project. The paper is an ethnographic, participant observer account of working with Russian social workers, social work managers, and heads of service. In Russia, the institutions for protection of the most vulnerable groups in the population, and the legislative frameworks for such institutions (the ‘social safety net’), are being radically re-drawn, in efforts to forestall the direst social consequences of a rapid shift to the market. Social work as a profession is being shaped and defined within this context, and an infrastructure to manage and resource it is being gradually and painfully developed by its leaders, often in extremis. Social services managers are struggling with a gargantuan task of reconciling the contradiction between vastly expanding public expectations and rapidly dwindling resources. Within this contradiction, Western influences, traditional Russian values and the harsh reality of the present, meet, collide and confront each other. Inherent tensions lead to the psychological phenomenon known as ‘splitting’ - the separating out of negative emotions or feelings judged unhelpful, and their projection onto other groups. Using an ethnographic approach to a small number of recent consultancy episodes, the author contends that only those Western management approaches which can accommodate a diverse range of ideological positions will be helpful, because they will be recognised in terms of current realities and comprehended as consistent with dominant values. No single set of values can yet be said to be dominant. The ensuing result is that a focus on developing practice in social work delivery is seen to be more relevant, and less problematical, than the transfer of new approaches to service management.

The Russian Open Game is a highly structured set of techniques and procedures for managing an intensive group learning situation extending over a number of days. As such, it offers a challenge to assumptions that the “Russian learning style” does not favour the use of participatory techniques in training and organisational development. While there is a growing literature on the reactions of Russian groups to Western training events and methods, there are few records of the reactions of Western participants on Russian events. The paper presents a description of one iteration of the Russian Open Game, held in Kaluga in May 1998. It sets out the key roles and techniques of the method, and examines issues such as openness, participation and conflict as they arise in the game. It concludes that the Game involves a high level of manipulation of events and group dynamics by the leadership, and that it is this role of the leader-as-choreographer rather than leader-as-facilitator which is the principal area of difference between the Russian Open Game and a typical British participatory training or organisational development event.

In this paper we use interview data to demonstrate the efficacy of training as a mechanism of knowledge transfer of entrepreneurship education within a conflict environment. In particular, we found that entrepreneurship education is indeed a vital component that impacts the entrepreneurial knowledge and skills acquisition as well as the entrepreneurial intentions amongst a group of University students severely affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in northern Nigeria. We draw from our findings to outline the central tenets and policy implications of using training as a mechanism of knowledge transfer.

This paper seeks to examine the issues of information management in business in the contemporary world by reviewing the contemporary writers in the subject area in an attempt to indicate the area of curriculum appropriate for general managers undergoing a management development programme. The domain is that applicable to managers (i.e. general managers rather than specialists in the areas of IT or IS) participating in an MBA programme or a competence-based management development programme of a similar level with similar goals.

In the last ten years, the nature of managerial work has changed considerably largely because the organisational, economic and technological context in which managerial work is conducted has changed beyond recognition. Organisations have been delayered; new concepts such as "the self-managed work team" have been developed; organisations have been subjected to a range of guru driven change such as business process reengineering; the scale of IT-enabled home-based working has increased; the rapid evolution of information and communications technologies have increased the volume and variety of communication that managers have had to learn to cope with; and, increasing globalisation has created a more competitive environment where businesses have had to become leaner, more flexible and adaptable - this often having been achieved by the ruthless implementation of cost-reduction programmes. The consequence of this are that the skills and "capabilites" that managers need to be effective have change radically. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of these changes and to assess the implications of management development and education programmes.

The paper examines the role of decision support, or “choice making” systems and models based upon three groupings of ideas (or frameworks). Firstly, the philosophy of choice is examined with reference to the viewpoints of classicism, modernism and post-modernism as they relate to the way in which preferences are determined and valorised. Secondly, this tripartite framework is examined with reference to the philosophical works of Soren Kierkegaard who is sometimes regarded as the first existentialist philosopher. Third, some parallels are drawn between the models and frameworks thus far described and the psychotherapeutic model developed (initially) by Eric Berne, known as Transactional Analysis. Finally, a review and synthesis of some of the ideas introduced is attempted.

In previous papers, we have challenged stereotyped policy responses, particularly those which posit the end of ideology and the demise of the age of trade unionism (Black, Greene & Ackers, 1997). Recent research has allowed a comparative approach, between two companies with similar historical and industrial backgrounds, exploring the ways in which the work place union organisation has adapted and responded to the specific changes and challenges which they have confronted. Longitudinal case study research has allowed us to qualify claims of either a dramatic or uniform change in the nature of work place unionism in response to the “Thatcherite” environment prevailing since 1979. This paper seeks to qualify and supplement the larger macro surveys which tend to obscure both the qualitative changes in the work place as well as the relationship between these changes and the local context (c.f. McCarthy 1994, Morris and Wood 1991). We place an emphasis on the way in which work place union organisation is constantly remade in accordance with local circumstances; absorbing local traditions, customs, and styles (Ackers et al 1996; Fairbrother, 1989). Consistent with the above quote from Ackers et al (1996), the pattern of employment relations, we argue, is worked out in the particular organisational milieu. Work place relations develop and change in response to the wider economic, political, legislative, and ideological environment, and are mediated by the nature of the particular workplace. Of particular interest in this paper are the issues of the interplay between union leadership style and the way in which the union/management relationship is viewed by the lay membership. We begin by introducing our two case studies. This is done in some depth, in order to provide the contextual background which is central to our analysis of the situation found at each firm. Our methodology is then briefly presented, before introducing the context of theoretical debates on union leadership. In the main body of the paper, we discuss the various aspects of the two case studies, drawing on analysis of workers’ opinions of their union organisation, and exploring possible explanations for our findings.

The paper is based on a five year, UMIST-Institute of Management study into the changing nature of the Quality of Working Life and seeks to uncover differences in the incidence and impact of organizational change on the perceptions and experiences of managers. The research indicates that there are significant differences in the impact of organizational change on managers and that these vary by the respondent’s position in the organizational hierarchy, by firm size and by sector (sector being here defined as public sector, private sector and “other”). The paper makes use of correspondence analysis as a means of graphically plotting responses as a means of identifying similarities and dissimilarities in perceptions and experiences of organizational change and its impact for sub-groups of managers.

Rural Broadnet is funded by the HEFCE under a widening provision programme which is designed to increase access to higher education for groups within society who traditionally suffer from poor access. The project’s brief is to widen HE participation in rural areas utilising, where possible and necessary, an information technology infrastructure. The project’s programme is needs led and characterised by community level partnerships; it does not aim for high specification hardware, software or communications technology. Its focus is to facilitate delivery of education, training, information and advice to local rural communities using technology which is accessible to, and affordable by, those communities. Particular target groups are the unemployed, women returners, older people, the 16+ age group and those on low or negative income. Local businesses, mainly agriculture-related sole traders, with low skill levels and a poor tradition of training, are also seen as a target group. This project differs from many others in that it has focused on communities, has identified local needs and attempted to meet those needs, rather than simply imposing the established University ‘learner’ model. A number of locally based and managed IT centres have been established, and these support a diverse range of course delivery and learning materials, from basic word processor use to Internet access and web site development. The Rural Broadnet team have become facilitators of a negotiated, student-centred learning experience which is supported at the local level by collaborative partnerships involving community groups, voluntary sector organisations, training providers and other agencies.