Ideal type

About: Ideal type is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 400 publications have been published within this topic receiving 8012 citations.

Knowledge-intensive firms : configuration or community?

Abstract: This thesis is a study into the nature of knowledge-intensive firm defined here as professional service firms providing tailored services to corporate clients and relying heavily on the problem solving capacity of their employees. This thesis attempts to strike a balance between a straightforward and overtly empirical piece of work which presupposes the meaning of knowledge work and an abstract contribution which questions, explores and attempts to reframe our understanding of the prevailing concept of knowledge work and of the knowledge-intensive firm. Three exceptionally successful contemporary firms are studied as potential exemplars of this seemingly new organisational form. The cases are examined from three overlapping and integrated perspectives. First, a structure and design perspective is adopted. The existing literature on the structure and design of these firms is examined and developed into an ideal type (Weber, 1978) which is subsequently used in the interviewing of employees. A more processual/contextual/alternative perspective on knowledge work is then adopted and combined with the related concept of community is applied to the study of the three cases. Finally, drawing on the historical case of early Irish monasticism, a premodern knowledge-intensive institutional form, the sense of the interrelationship between structure and community is elaborated upon and, along with some peculiarly monastic angles, applied to the three cases. The overall conclusion is that contemporary KIFs represent "plural forms" (Jeffrey, 1991) in the sense that they use different internal and external control mechanism simultaneously for the same function. While the operations of these firms are complex and unusual, the claim of a new paradigm of management underpinning these firms is rejected.

Corpulent Cattle and Milk Machines: Nature, Art and the Ideal Type

Abstract: The concept of a "breed" of domestic cattle is predominantly a social construct The late eighteenth century development of intensive selective (in)breeding of livestock produced breeds that were visually distinguishable from each other The adoption of breed standards was facilitated in part through paintings and drawings of idealized animals These "ideal types" or "standards of perfection" further served as targets for breeders who attempted to achieve the artist's conception of the perfect animal However, concepts of perfection change with fashion and thus ideal types constitute moving targets

Metropolitan comparisons: London as a city-state

Abstract: This article explores ideas associated with the term ‘metropolis’, especially when used concerning London, and then takes the notion of the city-state as a heuristic device to identify recurrent and fundamental characteristics of this particular metropolis. The comparisons are between successive phases in London's history, including the present; between London and other metropolises; and between London and that elusive ideal type, the ‘city-state’.

Struggling for congruency: principles and practices of anti-oppressive social work pedagogy

Abstract: The author begins by describing and problematizing the term "anti-oppressive theory and practice", the current nomenclature for a social work approach committed to social justice. After reviewing the professional, theoretical, political, and practice contexts of this practice approach she summarizes the essential content areas of anti-oppressive curricula and demonstrates the importance of the research question How do instructors strive for congruency between the content and process of education for anti-oppressive social work practice? A literature review reveals four key themes related to pedagogical congruency: modeling, deconstructing foundational knowledge claims, attending to affective and subjective learning in the exploration of identity and difference, and negotiating power and authority. The author then presents the research process used to investigate the above question, addressing the paradigmatic foundation of the research, describing the collective case study methodology, and justifying the use of the 'ideal type' as an interpretative technique. -- The findings of the research are presented in two stages. In the first, a composite picture of the six case studies, using an ideal type construct, represents the consensus evident within the data. Pedagogical principles and practices are described, and issues such as identity and difference, modeling, the uniqueness of professional education, the classroom power practices of students and instructors, and barriers to anti-oppressive pedagogy are explored. In the second stage, detailed quotes from research participants are used to illustrate the divergence found within the data, especially relating to issues of modeling, the context of anti-oppressive practice, the role of social work educators, and working with identity and difference. -- Analysis of the findings illuminates the enigmatic and evolving nature of anti-oppressive theory and practice. New pedagogical themes that extend our understanding of pedagogical congruency are presented and existing themes are critiqued. Identified directions for future enquiry include the further development of unique pedagogical practices, the exploration of student learning, transference of learning from the classroom to practice, and greater attention to the structural and institutional supports needed to promote anti-oppressive pedagogy.