Showing papers by "Nottingham Trent University published in 1995"

Rhetoric, Discourse and Argument in Organizational Sense Making: A Reflexive Tale

Abstract: It is argued that rhetoric is a key element in both the thinking and communicat ive processes of ordinary human actors and that this applies as much to the writer of this paper as to the two organizational actors whose words are closely analyzed. Following a rhetorical analysis of a dialogue between two managers encountered within a participant observation research project, two broad dis courses are identified within the organization and these are said to provide sets of discursive resources which are variously drawn on by managers in making sense of their managerial work and in pursuing interests.

Evaporation of microdroplets and the wetting of solid-surfaces

Abstract: Studies of the change in mass and the geometry, due to evaporation, of small droplets of water on poly-(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) have been performed. Measurements of contact angle, θ, contact radius, r0, and rate of mass loss with time in the regime of constant contact radius, valid for θ < 90°, are reported. Contrary to previous reports in the literature, it is shown that the rate of mass loss is proportional to the height of the droplet and not the spherical radius. The results are explained by a model based on a spherical cap geometry and the observed constant value of the contact radius. The predicted variation in contact angle with time is accurately fitted by the derived formula which gives a slope proportional to r0-2. Experiments over a range of contact radii from 0.293 to 0.585 mm confirm this power law behavior. To first order the rate of evaporation is predicted to have a weak time dependence and to be proportional to r0; a result which is also supported by the experimental data.

Towards an understanding of employee empowerment in hospitality services

Abstract: Interest in employee empowerment in hospitality operations is largely concerned with the improvement of customer service quality. Specifically, it is intended that through empowerment employees will be more committed to successful service encounters and will have the necessary discretion and autonomy to do whatever is needed to “delight the customer”. Investigation of the various initiatives under the name of empowerment reveals a variety of managerial meanings and motives for empowering employees. Four different motives can be identified. These shape the nature of the initiatives selected in an organization. These in turn are likely to generate different levels of commitment, and allow different degrees of autonomy and discretion among the empowered. Provides a framework for understanding managerial motives in selecting different forms of empowerment. Suggests some contextual factors which are likely to influence managerial perceptions, and finally considers the impact of initiatives on the empowered.

Transforming Former State Enterprises in the Czech Republic

Abstract: The study of organizational transformation has emerged from the foundations established by contingency theory and research. While institutional approaches to organizational analysis have preferred to focus on the tendency towards organizational continuity and inertia, recent developments have begun to con sider institutional pressures leading to change, and to provide clues about how contingency and institutional theories might complement each other in improv ing our understanding of organizational change. The evidence presented in this paper, drawn from a study of organizational transformation in the Czech Republic, allows exploration of the relationship between transforming state enterprises and the wider processes of social, economic and institutional change. The values, motives and actions of the key enterprise managers are shown to be essential factors in explaining both the process of transformation in state enterprises, and the role of institutional factors in that process.

The managerial dimension of small business failure

Abstract: The majority of existing studies of small business failure tend to focus upon either the symptoms arising from problems within the firm or upon the reasons cited for failure. Comparatively little analysis of the root cause has been undertaken. Failure and success are usually defined in rational terms which ignore stakeholder aspirations. Many owner-managers pursue personal objectives which inhibit the probability of success if measured using these rational criteria. The root cause of small business failure is almost invariably a lack of management attention to strategic issues. Notwithstanding the fact that common skills and abilities are required, the management process in small firms is unique and cannot be considered to be the same as professional management in larger firms practised on a reduced scale. The multiplicity of roles expected of the owner-manager often causes dissonance which enhances the probability of poor decision making and inappropriate action. Successful small firms practise strategic management either consciously and visibily or unconsciously and invisibly.

Tasks and Tables: The Effects of Seating Arrangements on Task Engagement in Primary Classrooms.

Abstract: Summary Large‐scale research programmes in primary schools have frequently identified a mismatch between classroom seating arrangements and the nature of pupils’ tasks. While children are typically seated in groups, their assigned tasks are generally individual. Intervention studies have consistently found that seating in rows for individual task work improves time spent on‐task. However, one weakness of these studies is that novelty could account for all or part of the improvement rather than the seating arrangements per se. In the first study reported here, an attempt was made to test the novelty hypothesis. Two primary classes, neither of which normally sat in groups or rows for individual task work, took part. In parallel ABA designs, one class moved from rows to groups to rows and the other from groups to rows to groups. In both classes, on‐task behaviour was higher in the rows arrangement, with the effect being most marked for children who were least on‐task when seated in groups. A second study, de...

An essential role for DsbA in cytochrome c synthesis and formate-dependent nitrite reduction by Escherichia coli K-12

Abstract: AnEscherichia coli K-12 mutant, isolated on the basis of its inability to catalyze formate-dependent nitrite reduction, was characterized. The mutant was defective in the synthesis of all knownc-type cytochromes during anaerobic growth. The mutation was localized by conjugation, transduction, and Southern blotting experiments to thedsbA gene at minute 87 on theE. coli chromosome and was complemented by the wild-type allele. Both DsbA and the recently described DipZ protein were shown to be essential for cytochromec synthesis, suggesting that they act sequentially in a pathway for cytochromec assembly in theE. coli periplasm.

William Cobbett: The Politics of Style

Abstract: Acknowledgements A chronology of Cobbett's life Introduction: change and continuity Part I. The Creation of Cobbett: 1. Early writings 1792-1800 2. A version of reaction 3. Oppositional styles 1804-16 4. Representing Old England Part II. Cobbett and his Audience: 5. Dialogue and debate 6. A radical history 7. Tracts and teaching 8. Constituting the nation Notes Bibliography Index.

Shaping the story: rhetoric, persuasion and creative writing in organisational ethnography

Abstract: Every writer is engaged in processes of persuasion, not only in their communicating with the reader but in the very processes of thinking out their ideas. Rhetoric is inevitably an integral part of research work and research writing. All social science writing involves the creation of an artful product. This proposition is examined with reference to the author's own writing about his ethnographic research on management and key parallels are observed between the techniques of creating an ethnographic account and the rhetorical style of the creative fiction writer. The basic issues of the paper are raised in the story of a dialogue between the researcher and Tom Beeston.

An initial characterization of the proteolytic enzymes secreted by the adult stage of the human hookworm Necator americanus.

Abstract: The proteolytic activities present in adult Necator americanus excretory-secretory products have been assessed using biologically relevant, naturally occurring substrates (haemoglobin and fibrinogen) and a number of synthetic fluorogenic and chromogenic substrates One broad peak of activity was observed against haemoglobin in the pH range 5 to 7, with maximum activity at pH 66, while fibrinogenolytic activity was shown to be greater at pH 35 Inhibition studies against haemoglobin, fibrinogen and synthetic substrates using a battery of appropriate protease inhibitors indicated the presence of a mixture of aspartyl, cysteinyl and serine proteases Metal ion (Ca2+, Zn2+ and Fe2+) stimulation was demonstrated, with stimulation by Zn2+ being the most marked These results are discussed in the context of recent developments in the field of parasite proteolytic enzymes, where they have been suggested as targets for immuno- and chemotherapy

Establishing critical levels for the effects of air pollution on vegetation

Abstract: In recent years, international air pollution effects research has focused on setting critical levels of pollutants, above which adverse effects occur on sensitive receptors. Once established, these levels are used to determine the geographical extent of exceedance for different vegetation categories and ultimately in the development of international protocols for pollution control within the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. Ideally, the critical level for each pollutant and vegetation category should have a relatively simple definition to allow ease of mapping. Nevertheless, the definitions need to be sufficiently robust to apply to sensitive vegetation growing in a diverse range of climates. The restrictions imposed by these criteria have led to complex and delicate negotiations between scientists from the UN/ECE* region. Data for the direct effects of air pollutants on vegetation have been carefully reviewed for applicability to critical levels. To date, critical levels have been set for the effects of SO2, ozone, NOx and NH3 on crops, trees and natural vegetation. The use of effects data to establish these levels is critically assessed in this paper in relation to current and future requirements for mapping.

Moral reasoning and moral atmosphere in the domain of accounting

Abstract: Much criticism has been levelled at the accountancy profession, ranging from the failure of accounting documents to reveal a more accurate reflection of the financial well‐being/ill health of organizations and the collusion of accountants in the preparation and validation of those documents, to the failure of the accountancy profession satisfactorily to take account of the public interest in the determination of the future of accounting and auditing practice. At the heart of these issues is the moral base of the profession and accounting practice, a base which displays contradictory values at a normative level, while at an empirical level the evidence appears to be less ambiguous. Contends that accounting practice cannot be isolated from broader social practices; rather it is shaped by, but also helps sustain, wider social, economic and political developments. Begins with a consideration of Kohlberg′s framework of moral reasoning and then links it to the additional dimension of individualism. Concludes th...

The quality gurus – their approaches described and considered

Abstract: Discusses the major contributions of various quality gurus. Highlights the main messages and how principles which originally focused on the product can now be applied to services. Draws attention to the competitive importance of quality and concludes that business survival depends on quality.

Empowerment through delayering: a pilot study at McDonald's restaurants.

Abstract: Reports on the study of changes to the management of a small group of McDonald′s restaurants in Wales. The initiative removed one of the levels of management and empowered both general area supervisors and restaurant managers. Confirms the view that empowerment is personal and individual, and that changes to working arrangements which claim to be empowering need to consider both objective details of what the empowered are now able to do and the subjective perceptions of the experience.

The Synthesis and Liquid Crystal Properties of Certain 5,5″-Disubstituted 2,2′:5′,2″-Terthiophenes

Abstract: The synthesis and liquid crystal properties of eight members of an homologous series of 5-n-alkanoyl-5″ -n-alkyl-2,2′:5′,2″-terthienyls and the corresponding eight 5,5″ -di-n-alkyl-2,2′:5′,2″-terthienyls are reported. The disposition of the three thiophene rings is sufficiently linear that suitably substituted compounds are mesomorphic, and the liquid crystal transition temperatures of related members of the two series are compared. Corresponding 5,5′-disubstituted 2,2′-bithienyls are not liquid crystalline.

The detection of Salmonella in skimmed milk powder enrichments using conventional methods and immunomagnetic separation

Abstract: D. DZIADKOWIEC, L.P. MANSFIELD AND S.J. FORSYTHE. 1995. Skimmed milk powders were spiked with one of three Salmonella serovars and incubated in buffered peptone water for 24 h. No false-negative results were obtained by immunomagnetic separation (IMS), compared to seven for selenite cysteine, one for Muller-Kauffmann tetrathionate and two for Rappaport-Vassiliadis enrichment broths. Salmonella virchow was detected and enumerated during the pre-enrichment incubation by IMS and indirect conductance techniques. The Salm. virchow cell number did not increase after 12 h incubation and remained at 3 x 10 6 cfu ml -1 . IMS was able to capture Salm. virchow cells at cell numbers ca 50 ml -1 in the presence of a 1000 greater number of non-salmonella cells.

Results from the UN/ECE ICP-crops indicate the extent of exceedance of the critical levels of ozone in Europe

Abstract: The experiments of the United Nations/Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) International Cooperative Programme on effects of air pollution and other stresses on crops and non-wood plants (ICP-Crops) are designed to investigate the effects of ambient ozone pollution on crops and non-wood plants. Each year, participants from approximately 17 European countries conduct a series of coordinated experiments to determine which species develop visible injury following ozone episodes and whether the biomass or yield of sensitive species is reduced. In 1993, ozone injury was only seen at two thirds of sites but in 1994 injury was detected at almost all sites. This coincides with generally higher ozone concentrations measured in that year. Injury was seen on crops including subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.), white clover (Trifolium repens L.), bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), soybean (Glycine max), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) at experimental sites and in some cases, in commercial fields. The application of ethylenediurea (EDU) to some crop species reduced the level of visible injury. At some sites, the yield of EDU-treated bean plants was greater than that of untreated plants where the critical level of ozone for yield reduction was exceeded. Preliminary analysis of ozone concentrations in the days preceding injury indicated a sequential ozone concentration effect. The results are discussed in relation to Level I and Level II mapping of exceedance of the short- and long-term critical levels for ozone.