THE KNOWLEDGE INHERITANCE THEORY OF DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE

This article criticises the 'knowledge inheritance theory of distributive justice' presented by Gar Alperovitz and Lew Daly in their Unjust Deserts: How the Rich Are Taking Our Common Inheritance and Why We Should Take It Back; Wealth and Inequality in the Knowledge Economy (New York: The New Press, 2008). The authors claim that since innovation depends far more on accumulated knowledge than on any individual's contribution, most resulting wealth is deserved equally by all members of society. Their redistributive conclusion is not justified. Illegitimately applying the concept of justice to contexts where it is at best metaphorical, the 'knowledge inheritance theory' massively undervalues the role of individual intellectual activity, and relies on confusions concerning the nature of society, rights, causality, and gifts.     

Workplace chaplains: filling a need traditional EAPs can't meet

More organizations are finding secular counseling provided by employee assistance programs (EAPs) is inadequate for many employees. As a result, increasing numbers of employers are providing services of workplace chaplains. Chaplain services are not necessarily part of the recent fad toward "spirituality" in organizations, but rather address the needs of an increasingly non-churchgoing culture living in a more stressful world.     

Does Chatter Matter? The Impact of User-Generated Content on Music Sales

The Internet has enabled a new era of user-generated content, threatening the hegemony of traditional content generators as the primary sources of “legitimate” information. In this study, we examine the usefulness of such content, consisting of data from blogs and social networking sites, in predicting sales in the music industry. We track changes in online chatter for a sample of 108 albums for four weeks before and after their release dates. We identify the significance of variables on the observation date in predicting future album unit sales one, two, and three weeks ahead. Our findings are that future sales are positively correlated with (a) the volume of blog posts about an album, and (b) traditional factors such as whether the album is released by a major label and reviews from mainstream sources like Rolling Stone. More generally, the study provides some preliminary answers for marketing managers interested in assessing the relative importance of the burgeoning number of “Web 2.0” information metrics that are becoming available on the Internet. The study also provides a framework for thinking about when user-generated content influences decision making.     

Going global,feeling small: an examination of managers' reactions to global restructuring in a multinational organisation

This paper is concerned with examining the reactions of managers to the process of global restructuring in a large, multinational food-processing company. Much extant research concerning globalisation has focused on the wider economic, political and social outcomes. Perhaps surprisingly, relatively little attention has been given to how globalisation is experienced inside organisations. This paper examines how country-level managers have been affected by the move to a new global structure in their organisation. We present evidence of these managers feeling disempowered by global reorganisation and of a largely negative impact on their feelings towards the organisation they work for.     

In search of legitimacy: personnel management associations worldwide

In considering the development of the HR ‘profession’, there has been little exploration of the role of the professional association. This is particularly true looking across national boundaries, raising questions about the impact and extent of homogeneity of personnel management association activities. It is argued that professional associations have a legitimising role to play in establishing a specialist body of knowledge, regulating practice and providing a source of internal and external identity for practitioners. A recent worldwide survey of personnel management associations found that, although associations are active in these areas, there is a lack of mandatory control and regulation across the profession, diluting the legitimacy accorded by such activities. Association activities were also found to be largely generic across countries, resulting from inter‐association collaboration, although different contexts result in different outcomes.     

Nurse managers as transformational and transactional leaders

Nurse managers demonstrating transformational leadership are more likely than transactional leaders to have committed staff nurse followers. Committed followers exert extra effort, thus improving unit performance and enhancing the organization's competitive advantage.