Browsing by Author "Butcher, David"
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Item Open Access Developing businesses through developing individuals(1997-04-30T00:00:00Z) Butcher, David; Harvey, Penny; Atkinson, SallyItem Open Access Organizational Politics: the cornerstone for organizational democracy(Elsevier, 2002-08) Butcher, David; Clarke, MartinItem Open Access Political leadership, bureaucracies and business schools: A comfortable union?(SAGE Publications, 2009-11) Clarke, Martin; Butcher, DavidOne of the central issues in reconciling pluralistic and bureaucratic forms of organizing lies in the absence of a coherent model of leadership. The intention here is to stimulate debate about the notion of political leadership as a contribution to this analysis. This approach to political leadership prioritizes the explicit acknowledgement of power relations as being central to the reconciliation of diverse interests, and to the building of moral communities in organizational settings. In developing this idea we explore the organizational context for the emergence of political leadership and consider its distinguishing features with reference to both theory and practice. Consideration is given to its utility in building moral organizational communities and how this approach to conceptualizing leadership might be furthered through business school education.Item Open Access Reconciling hierarchy and democracy: the value of management learning(Sage Publications, 2006-09) Clarke, Martin; Butcher, DavidPluralistic organizations are often argued to have become an indisputable reality for senior managers. In consequence, the role of hierarchy has come under close scrutiny. How can organizations balance the need for congruence, provided through hierarchy, with the need for greater organizational democracy? As yet, the potential for management education and learning to impact on this debate, at either an organizational or a societal level, has been largely unfulfilled. This article argues that the aspirational values of liberal adult educationalists have a significant contribution to make to the management of contemporary organizations. It positions these values alongside the business requisites that shape organizations and examine the motivations of senior managers to apply these ideas in practice. The concept of voluntarism, derived from the field of political philosophy, is proposed as an alternative organizational binding mechanism that alters the rationale for the role of hierarchy. The implications for senior executives and management educationalists are considered.Item Open Access The role of voluntarism in stimulating organization democracy(Cranfield University, 2006-10) Clarke, Martin; Butcher, DavidThis thesis represents a body of work developed over 10 years in the areas of management learning, organizational politics, and change and organization democracy. It focuses on the role of hierarchy in balancing the need for strategic coherence with the ever burgeoning plurality of organizational life. In recent years, there has been a variety of academic discourses that have illuminated this debate. Often coming from different epistemological traditions, each makes a helpful contribution to the debate. However, I argue that none provides, nor in some cases is intended to provide, senior managers with robust and practical methods of re-conceptualising the role of hierarchy in organization. Based on this analysis, four key requirements for the development of theory in the area are suggested. Using these principles as a starting point, this thesis makes a contribution to knowledge in three interrelated areas. Firstly, by developing the concept of voluntarism, derived from the field of political philosophy, as an alternative organizational binding mechanism that alters the rationale for the role of hierarchy. Secondly, this concept is operationalised as a form of ‘representative’ leadership. Research data are provided which explore the behavioural dimensions and cognitive antecedents of this approach to leadership. The findings are suggestive of a democratic orientation toward leading and organizing, and on this basis, the third contribution focuses on how such leadership principles may be more widely adopted through the vehicle of management learning.Item Open Access Trust in the context of management relationships: an empirical study.(2003) Atkinson, Sally; Butcher, DavidThis paper responds to calls for exploration of the dynamics of trust in the embedded context of interpersonal managerial relationships. Building on theoretical distinctions between different types of interpersonal relationships established in social psychology, the paper proposes a generic typology of interpersonal managerial relationships, along with associated hypotheses and implications for trust. The later part of the paper then reports the results from an initial exploratory study that supports and extends the practical application of the proposed relationship typology and refines the hypotheses in the specific context of managerial work.Item Open Access Turning your business 'Outside in'(Cranfield University School of Management, 2010-03-01T00:00:00Z) Butcher, DavidManagers who have an extra-industry view bring to their business ‘new to industry' ideas, innovative solutions to old industry problems, and over time, altogether new strategic directionItem Open Access Voluntarism as an organizing principle for 'responsible organizations'(Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z) Clarke, Martin; Butcher, DavidThe aim of this paper is to promote the concept of organizational voluntarism, borrowed from political philosophy and to stimulate feedback and debate as to its efficacy in furthering the discourse on corporate responsibility.