Browsing by Author "James, Kim"
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Item Open Access Back to the workplace: How organisations can improve their support for management learning and development(Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2004-03-01T00:00:00Z) Belling, Ruth; James, Kim; Ladkin, DonnaThis paper explores how organisations can become more sophisticated at supporting transfer of learning, by identifying the perceived barriers and facilitators to transfer of learning, by examining a range of individual characteristics and workplace features associated with these barriers and facilitators and then relating these to the type of programme that managers undertake. The longitudinal survey methodology and programme typology used in the research are described. Findings highlight 26 perceived barriers and 17 facilitators to the transfer of learning, significant associations are shown with particular features such as mentoring and personal values. The paper goes on to identify the characteristics associated with a lack of transfer and suggests a tentative model of perceived influences on transfer of learning. Based on this research, it is concluded that it is important to take programme learning design into account when considering support for transfer of learning from management development programmes back to the workplace.Item Open Access Item Open Access A Framework for Learning about Emotion and Emotionality in Organizational Systems as a Core Aspect of Leadership Development..(SAGE Publications, 2005) James, Kim; Arroba, TanyaThis article outlines a developmental framework for introducing systems psychodynamic concepts in the context of leadership development. The model focuses on two key aspects of the leadership role needed in today’s organizations. These are the ability to Read what is less obvious and below the surface in organizational systems, and the ability to manage what is Carried by those in leadership roles. These abilities inform choice of behaviours and intervention by leaders in their organization systems. We argue for the need for appreciation of the systems psychodynamics within organizations and identify the difficulties in including these aspects in leadership development programmes. This article provides a case study of a leadership development programme where we use the ‘Reading and Carrying’ model as a bridge to understanding the emotion/ality that impinges on the leadership role. We discuss the difficulties that learning about emotion in and of the system can bring, by looking at the emotion raised in the learning experience.Item Open Access Hardiness, appraisal and coping; a qualitative study of high and low Hardy managers(2004) Hamilton, Dawn; James, Kimchallenge, control and commitment. Hardiness is often referred to in the literature as a stress-resilience factor. Resilience is thought to result from superior coping and a more positive appraisal of potential stressors. Yet, despite the importance of the coping pathway within the stress model, virtually no empirical studies have directly examined how Hardy managers and professionals cope with stress. This paper addresses this gap. Low and high Hardys were identified using Kobasa’s Personal Views Survey. Indepth interviews were conducted with two samples of managers with high or low Hardiness scores. The analysis supports the proposition that high levels of Hardiness are associated with different coping strategies and appraisals of stress from low levels of Hardiness. The findings challenge some current concepts of what constitute effective coping strategies. The experience of the workplace in terms of perceived stress is different for low and high Hardys and this both supports existing literature on stress appraisal and provides a perspective on perceptions of stress in the workplace that could enhance our understanding of resilience and form the basis of further research on developing Hardy characteristics and intervention strategies for stress management.Item Open Access Managing learning in an organisation that understands teaching(1990) James, KimItem Open Access Psychological dynamics and organisational learning : From the dysfunctional organisation to the healthy organisation(1996) James, Kim; Jarrett, Michael; Lucas, DonnaThis paper explores the notion of organisation health as a factor contributing to the organisation’s ability to learn and create its future. Ill health or dysfunctionality is seen as blocking learning and change. The authors develop a diagnostic map, drawn from a psychodynamic perspective. This map aims to help change consultants pin-point the blocks to a healthy organisational culture in order to be more specific in their interventions to the client system.Item Open Access The shadow in the balance sheet: The spectre of Enron and how accountants use the past as a psychological defence against the future(2004-01-01T00:00:00Z) Cooper, David; James, Kim; Kwiatkowski, Richard; Taffler, Richard J.Accounting frameworks play a crucial role in enabling us to make sense of business. These frameworks provide a common language for individuals, organizations and broader economic groupings to understand and make decisions about the commercial realm in which they operate. From a psychodynamic perspective, the language of accounting also plays an important role. On the one hand it offers a way to tame the uncertainty and unknowability of the future by representing it in the same comforting terms as it does the past, thus reducing anxiety. Accounting provides a ‘shorthand’, which achieves a balance between positive and negative, debit and credit, asset and liability. On the other hand, accounting can also provide an arena in which fantasies about the future can be staged. However, the use of accounting language is problematic, particularly when it comes to dealing with the future. First, accounting frameworks are inherently backward looking and second, the reassuring sense of clarity and predictability they give are bought at the price of unrealistic simplification. The shadow is never far away and is a constant source of surprises in the unfolding future of a business. Rationalizing and sanitizing the shadow through accounting language may alleviate anxiety but fails to provide an escape from its effects, and echoes from the shadow side of business are capable of shaking the world in the form of accounting scandals. Governments and businesses have reacted to scandals such as Enron and Worldcom by tightening legislation and refining accounting standards but little, if anything, has been done to bring us any closer to confronting the shadow of business where these scandals have their ro