Suchergebnisse

"Humor is part and parcel of every workplace. However, while it usually demonstrates and fosters a united, happy workforce, it can at times be deeply damaging and divisive. This book is the first-ever authoritative work on the use and management of humor in the workplace. It is a practical guide for everyone involved: the humorists ('jokers'), the targets (sometimes 'victims'), the observers ('audience') and most of all the managers who have to 'set the tone' and encourage, control and manage humor."--Provided by publisher

Expatriation is a big topic and is getting bigger. Over 200 million people worldwide now live and work in a country other than their country of origin. Tens of billions of dollars are spent annually by organizations that move expatriates around the world. Yet, despite the substantial costs involved, expatriation frequently results in an unsatisfactory return on investment (ROI), with little or no knowledge as to how to improve it. Why is this so? The problem overwhelmingly lies in the poor delivery of effective expatriate management which is frequently handicapped by a lack of understanding of international careers and the forces that drive competition in the "global war for talent," an increasingly short-term profit-driven focus and a failure to adopt the rational strategic approach that organizations automatically apply to other areas of their business

In this article we extend consideration of differences of interest in employment relationships to career issues. Two sets of interests — those of employing organizations and of individual workers — often make careers 'contested terrain' in which organizations pursue strategic advantages and individuals personal advantages. The contestation is contextualized by current trends to individualized employment relations and a focus on managerial, professional and technical work. The two interest sets mirror a disjuncture between two disciplinary bases, the 'vocational' base underpinned by psychology and the 'strategic human resource management' (SHRM) base, underpinned by economics. We develop a 'psychological contract' model, in which both individuals and organizations invest knowledge capital in the other with a view to obtaining long-term returns. We consider the implications of our analysis and model for career management by both individuals and organizations, for future research on careers, and for the interdisciplinary study of careers in an integrated 'career studies'.

Presenting a universal set of techniques and people skills that will allow you to adapt quickly to, and thrive in, any cultural environment, this book will show you how to discard your own culturally based assumptions and pay careful attention to cues in cross-cultural situations. --

This article, first given as an address to the January 2002 National Consultation on Career Development, Ottawa, Ontario, draws attention to the inevitability of metaphor in human thought, discourse, and theory, including that concerning careers. The article (a) explores the benefits and the dangers of metaphorical thinking and advocates the use of "multiple metaphor" as a means of understanding careers; (b) looks particularly at metaphors in the context of new, more flexible careers; (c) introduces 10 archetypal career metaphors; and (d) considers how career counseling practice can be assisted through the facilitation of metaphorical thinking.

Boredom has been largely omitted from the leadership literature, or dismissed as a problem, incongruent with effective leadership. Our research showed that the boredom discourse of senior managers engaged in a leadership development programme contrasted with their construction of challenge in leadership. In a second study, managers considered boredom to be a characteristic of followers not leaders, antithetical to leadership, and a problem to be solved through leader-initiated change. These managers therefore accepted a prevalent negative discourse on boredom and sought to respond to it not by reflecting on it but by initiating change. The experience and consideration of boredom may provide the impetus for creativity, risk-taking, curiosity and challenge-seeking, and may foster sustained and embedded individual and organizational learning. Attending to a more holistic range of phenomena and living with leadership 'troughs' as well as 'peaks' may ultimately create a more reflexive, resilient and agile leadership.