Ritual legitimation, de-coupling and the budgetary process: managing organizational hypocrisies in a multinational company

The study of participation in the budgetary cycle has formed a prominent part of the research literature concerned with the budgetary process. More recently there has emerged a body of literature concerned with exploring the political and symbolic nature of the budgetary process. The paper reports upon the outcomes of an empirical study of the introduction of `budgetary participation' in a division of a European subsidiary of a large North American car manufacturer. We detail the long process of consultation and negotiation within the subsidiary, and between it and the European Headquarters. The study provides a revealing instance of the roles of formal budget participation as a ritual of control and legitimation without the substantive involvement of middle managers and suggested to us the introduction of de-coupling and organizational hypocrisy alongside the introduction of budget participation. The study pays close attention to the contingent effects of the wider political context of the division and the relationships between the division, its organizational context and organizational environment, and how this context played upon the budgetary process in the division. The outcomes that we analyse at `Delta' reflect the de-coupling strategies and organizational hypocrisies commonly found in public sector organizations. In this wider setting the corporation persists with the ritual of `tight' budget negotiation and target setting and apparent underachievement in performance. Yet we conclude that the complex technological and political context to the formation and siting of Delta continued and may continue to support its existence.$g0     

论王安石“善恶由习”人性论的理论渊源及其内容

传统人性论是王安石人性论形成的理论来源。传统伦理思想史上的人性论主要有孟子的性善论、告子的性无善无恶论、苟子的性恶论、世硕的性有善有恶论、董仲舒的性三品论、扬雄的性善恶混论和韩愈的性情三品说。王安石批判地吸收了前人的人性论成果，形成了他的“善恶由习”的人性论。他的人性论给传统人性论注入了新的内涵，开拓了新的境界，因而在中国伦理思想史上具有重要的地位。