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Julia Brannen is very much a pioneer of mixed methods research having organised one of the first conferences on the subject in June 1989. In this paper, I assess her contribution to the field of mixed methods research. I examine both her methodological writings on the principles of doing mixed methods research and some of her research which derives from the approach. Through this examination of the two strands of her mixed methods work, I tease out the distinctiveness of her approach to the field and the contribution she has made. In so doing, I address quality issues in mixed methods research, something Julia Brannen touched on in her early writings, how these might be developed, and how they relate to her work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Taking its lead from a growing literature dealing with the research methods employed in management and adjacent disciplines and from the editors’ goal of encouraging a diversity of methodological positions in the pages of Leadership, this article reports the findings of a content analysis of the research methods employed in empirical articles during the journal’s first five years of publication. Particularly in comparison with a comparable study of the North American journal, The Leadership Quarterly, the content analysis findings reveal a greater tendency to employ a qualitative than a quantitative research approach and for qualitative interviewing and the qualitative analysis of documents to be predominant methods of data collection. At the same time, the findings also reveal similarities with traditional journals in terms of the methods employed, such as a relatively low take up of mixed-methods research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The involvement of service users in the research process is becomingly increasingly required by many funders of research and is being seen as an indicator of quality in its own right. This paper provides original data from a study of social policy researchers’ views of service user involvement in research. It shows a diversity of stances which have been categorised here as belonging to Advocates, Agnostics and Adversaries of user involvement. The views of Agnostics and Adversaries pose serious challenges that need to be addressed if service user involvement is to be more widely accepted and valued by some researchers and academics in social policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article reports the findings of a study in which leader ship researchers were interviewed regarding their experiences and perceptions of leader ship in higher education institutions. In particular, the research was concerned with the types of leader ship associated with effectiveness, particularly at the Head of Department level. While several forms of leader ship were identified as likely to be effective and ineffective, no single type of leader ship stood out. The authors consider the implications of the findings for the development of leader ship competency frameworks, noting in particular that interviewees tended to be sceptical about them because the frameworks tend to underestimate the significance of contextual factors. The authors also consider why it may be that many of the issues identified from the interview transcripts relate to well-known established themes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to articles published within the issue is presented, including one by Jonathan Gosling et al on the study of leadership in higher education (HE) in the context of intensifying managerialism and another by Robin Middlehurst et al on the implications of the HE leadership research for those involved in leadership practice, development and policy formulation.

This article reports some findings from an investigation of social policy researchers in the UK. The findings relate to the quality criteria that social policy researchers deem to be appropriate to quantitative research, qualitative research and mixed methods research. The data derive from an e-survey of researchers which was followed up by semi-structured interviews with a purposively selected sample from among those e-survey respondents who agreed to be interviewed. The article emphasises the findings that relate to quality criteria for mixed methods research, since this is an area that has not attracted a great deal of attention. Greater agreement was found regarding the criteria that should be employed for assessing quantitative than qualitative research. The findings relating to mixed methods research point to a preference for using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research criteria and for employing different criteria for the quantitative and the qualitative components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore what the term "methodology" might be taken to mean. It uses an aphorism by Howard Becker as a springboard for examining the nature of methodology, arguing that Becker's view of methodology was misleading. Design/methodology/approach – There are two components. First, "insider" account of research findings concerning the nature of mixed methods research is presented. These findings derive from a content analysis of articles based on mixed methods research and from interviews with mixed methods researchers. Second, the paper examines the paradox that qualitative research is often viewed as generating interesting findings but that qualitative researchers frequently feel that they experience difficulty in placing qualitative articles in mainstream journals. Findings – The findings from the mixed methods study demonstrate that mixed methods research is often rationalized in a different way from how it is actually employed. Research limitations/implications – The second part of the paper should be extended so that a more comprehensive analysis of publication patterns can be carried out. Originality/value – There are relatively few examinations of what we mean by "methodology." The paper tries to move these considerations forward by arguing that methodology is about the examination of "methodic practice." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a review of the literature concerned with leadership effectiveness in higher education at departmental level. The literature derives from publications from three countries: the UK, the USA and Australia. Surprisingly little systematic research has been conducted on the question of which forms of leadership are associated with departmental effectiveness. The analysis of the studies selected resulted in the identification of 13 forms of leader behaviour that are associated with departmental effectiveness. The findings are considered in relation to the notion of competency frameworks and, in the conclusion, their general implications are explored in relation to the notion of substitutes for leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of organizational research displays three trends: widening boundaries, a multiparadigmatic profile, and methodological inventiveness. Choice of research methods, shaped by aims, epistemological concerns, and norms of practice, is thus also influenced by organizational, historical, political, ethical, evidential, and personal factors, typically treated as problems to be overcome. This article argues that those factors constitute a system of inevitable influences and that this contextualization of methods choice has three implications. First, it is difficult to argue that methods choice depends exclusively on links to research aims; choice involves a more complex, interdependent set of considerations. Second, it is difficult to view method as merely a technique for snapping reality into focus; choices of method frame the data windows through which phenomena are observed, influencing interpretative schemas and theoretical development. Third, research competence thus involves addressing coherently the organizational, historical, political, ethical, evidential, and personal factors relevant to an investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management academics have tended to rely on ethics codes developed by social researchers in related fields to inform their research practice. The point of this paper is to question whether this remains a viable approach in the current climate that is characterized by a significant increase in ethical regulation across the social sciences. We suggest that management researchers face ethical issues of a different nature to those most frequently confronted by other social science researchers, and argue for more explicit acknowledgement of contextual factors involved in management research. An exploratory analysis of the content of ethics codes formulated by nine social scientific associations is undertaken to identify the main ethical principles they cover and to analyse their underlying ethical tone. Drawing attention to the principle of reciprocity, which is found in very few codes, we suggest that an ethics code could be used to formulate new ways of thinking about management research relationships. Despite the risk that ethics codes may encourage instrumental compliance with minimal ethical obligations, we suggest they also have the potential to reflect a more aspirational agenda. The development of an ethics code for management research should therefore be seen as a potentially worthwhile project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the role of the research question in social research. It outlines what is taken to be the conventional view in many methodological discussions, namely, that research questions guide decisions about research design and research methods. This position is taken to imply that social researchers typically take the view that research methods need to be tailored to the research questions that guide an investigation. The paper questions how far this position pertains to actual research practice. Drawing on interviews with researchers about their practices in relation to mixed-method research, two discourses were found in the transcripts. A particularistic discourse that reflects the traditional view, whereby mixed-method research is viewed as only appropriate when research questions warrant it, was uncovered. In addition, a universalistic discourse, which sees mixed-method research as more generally superior, was also uncovered. The implications of these viewpoints for understanding the role of research questions are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned with the possibility that the development of mixed methods research is being hindered by the tendency that has been observed by some researchers for quantitative and qualitative findings either not to be integrated or to be integrated to only a limited extent. It examines findings from 20 interviews with U.K. social researchers, all of whom are practitioners of mixed methods research. From these interviews, a wide variety of possible barriers to integrating mixed methods findings are presented. The article goes on to suggest that more attention needs to be given to the writing of mixed methods articles. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article it is shown that the paradigm wars that raged concerning the incompatibility of quantitative and qualitative research have largely subsided. In the process, discussions of epistemological and ontological issues have become less prominent. The peace that has broken out has proved to be more favourable to research combining quantitative and qualitative research than was the case during the paradigm wars. Drawing on interviews with social researchers who employ a mixed‐methods approach and on the literature, it is shown that a spirit of pragmatism with regard to combining quantitative and qualitative research prevails which encourages researchers to consider using mixed‐methods research when the research question is suited to it. However, the issue of which quality criteria should be employed in investigations combining quantitative and qualitative research has not been given a great deal of consideration. The author argues for a contingency approach, in which issues to do with quality are decided in relation to the nature of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to highlight some of the issues that emerge in the researcher interview process. It is argued that researcher interviewing is becoming an increasingly used practice yet the researcher interview is under-critiqued in the literature. Design/methodology/approach – The authors provide an "insider" account of their own experiences of researcher interviewing. Additionally they seek to locate these experiences within two conceptual approaches: that of reflexivity and identity work. Findings – The paper aims to investigate some of the distinctive concerns that arise when one researcher interviews another. Research limitations/implications – The paper outlines the implications for others who may be engaging in the process of interviewing researchers, and highlights further issues for consideration when planning a researcher interview study. Originality/value – The paper provides an analysis of a little considered, but expanding practice within qualitative research, namely the researcher interview. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This study aims to examine how empowerment is perceived by individuals employed on construction projects. In contrast with previous research which has predominantly been conducted from a management perspective, this paper deals with employee perceptions of empowerment. Design/methodology/approach - A qualitative approach was adopted for this study employing in-depth interviews on four major construction projects. Findings - The findings from the study indicate that there can be a gap between the employee experience and the management rhetoric. Health and Safety issues were often cited by the employees as a major barrier to empowerment. The strict Health and Safety regulations under which construction employees operate limit their freedom to influence the work that they undertake. A further factor that was found to have a strong influence on the diffusion of empowerment was the role of the employees' immediate supervisor. Research limitations/implications - The data are based on case studies that illuminate our understanding of empowerment in relation to construction projects. This area of research would benefit from alternative research approaches that could establish the generalizability of the findings reported. Originality/value - This article explores the notion that, as empowerment is a perception, management cannot easily regulate employees' empowerment This emphasises the importance of exploring employee perspectives when examining employee empowerment and its impact on workplace relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a wide range of human and organizational factors have been found to be important in the operation of projects, those determined by cultural variables are less well defined. One such influence concerns the notion of ‘project affinity’, the commitment and attachment by stakeholders and participants to projects and their outcomes. The temporal nature and transient involvement context provided by construction projects arguably presents a climate in which many participants are less likely to display commitment to its goals. This note is concerned with the issue of whether an attachment to a project's goals or to the completed product can lead to improved commitment among those involved. The concept of project affinity was developed in the course of a case study investigation in which operatives' attitudes towards the construction of a cancer research facility were explored. Because of the contribution of the facility to the future care of cancer sufferers, the concept of project affinity proved helpful in understanding a factor that appeared to be influencing the commitment of those involved. The results suggest a complementary concept to that of ‘project chemistry’ (c.f. Nicolini, 2002). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the potential of team and individual empowerment as performance improvement strategies in construction. The important role of empowerment has been emphasized through a discussion of recent trends in the construction industry, for example, the Rethinking Construction report on respect for people, which highlighted the central role of empowerment in improving people management practices in the construction sector. The literature also suggests a conceptual linkage between empowerment and many of the leading-edge practices that have been championed within the sector in recent years, including total quality management, construction performance measurement, benchmarking, organizational change, job enrichment, high-performance systems, teamwork, and motivation. This paper attempts to advance understanding of the fundamental concepts behind effective teamwork and motivation by exploring the role of empowerment in facilitating these current management concepts and trends. Rather than portraying empowerment as a panacea for the problems of the industry, the paper presents it as a key to the performance enablers of culture, training, and knowledge management, which require understanding and action by management if significant change is to be realized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the process of Disneyization as a parallel process to that of McDonaldization and raises the question of whether McDonald's restaurants can themselves be regarded as Disneyized as well as McDonaldized. It is suggested that McDonald's restaurants fit the notion of Disneyization well in that there is growing use of theming in outlets, the company offers a wide range of merchandising opportunities, McDonald's involves itself with other spheres of consumption so that there is dedifferentiation of consumption, and its staff are supposed to exhibit emotional labor. Some of the implications of the discussion for issues to do with globalization are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article begins with analysis of four of the principal ‘modes of engagement’ which articulate the human/wild animal nexus: encounter; representation; presentation; and quasification. It then goes on to focus upon the zoo as a key site of animal presentation and of mass tourism. The argument is presented that the zoo in late modernity is undergoing crucial changes in its legitimating narratives. In addition, it is suggested that zoos are exhibiting a tendency towards Disneyization, which entails the following interlinked features: theming; dedifferentiation of consumption; merchandising; and emotional labour. We illustrate this tendency through the discussion of a variety of contemporary developments in zoos and wildlife parks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the relationship between technology and the organization of work. Several theoretical positions are outlined and are drawn upon in the context of historical evidence relating to an industry case study. The empirical focus is the early US animation industry and in particular the introduction of cel animation in the second decade of the century and after. Standard histories of major studios and figures are examined, along with the patent applications for the cel animation process. A model of the main elements in the analysis is outlined and its connections with the theoretical positions that centre on technology and work are examined. The analysis emphasizes the importance of the wider institutional environment within which the technology of cel animation was designed and different aspects of its 'interpretive flexibility'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to trace the origins and prototypes of the themed restaurant to provide a typology of theming devices and to offer an analysis of theming strategies. However, the broader purpose is to use the themed restaurant as a device to open up a wider debate about the character of contemporary consumer experiences. The themed restaurant is an example of a process of theming which is characteristic of many of the leisure experiences of contemporary society. The various perspectives on theming as a cultural device have been discussed, and the concept of quasification is introduced in order to advance the present theoretical understanding of the theming process in its broader cultural context. Specifically, it has been argued that the techniques of quasification entail the active and knowing involvement of both those who engineer themed settings and those who purchase participation in them. Late modernity, it has been argued, has an unprecedented capacity for creating quasified experiences as antidotes to the tedium of its mundane everyday settings.

This article is based on a six-year survey of first year undergraduates and their meat consumption. The main focus is vegetarianism and the declining consumption of red meat over the past two decades. The levels of meat consumption and avoidance were analysed by gender, father’s occupation, voting intention and the reasons given for reduction/avoidance. The results found that the majority of vegetarians were women, although they were also the majority of the sample. Age, political inclination and social class appear to have had little bearing on meat consumption. There is also the suggestion that vegetarianism has reached a plateau. A wide range of further studies is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of a partial re-study of an investigation of the religious functionary reported in Clergy, Ministers and Priests by Ranson, Bryman and Hinings (1977). The re-study reveals a mixture of both continuity and change in respect of a variety of themes that had been addressed in the earlier investigation. The article reflects on the significance of the findings for the sociology of religion (and the study of churches in particular), but also thaws out a number of methodological implications for the problems and prospects of conducting re-studies in sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an elaborate analysis of the impact of recession on the labor market of Great Britain. In recent years Great Britain has witnessed massive changes. The most horrible outcome of these changes is unemployment. In particular, the concern has been cast by researchers on long term mass unemployment which signals for a long time stay. However, unemployment is not the only aspect of economic recession but it is one of that. Just as important in the long term are the effects of the crisis in other areas of the labor market. The officially collected statistics of unemployment and vacancies are considered as vital indicators of the state of the economy of Great Britain. The article further describes that use of informal methods during recruitment, of course doesn't exhaust the possible methods of notification. Remarkably, less attention has been given to the use of what economists call the internal labor market in the recruitment process. In spite of the fact that it is used intensively by many organizations.

This paper examines the debate about whether early entrants/pioneers to an industry enjoy long-term advantage over theirs successors. While most of the research suggests that pioneers are advantaged, there are methodological problems with these studies that tend to enhance the likelihood that pioneers will be found to be more successful. Through a case study of the US animation industry, it is shown that being a late entrant was almost certainly advantageous to some of the companies concerned. The paper explores the reasons why some late entrants prevailed over others and some of the mechanisms that allowed late entrants to overcome pioneers. The factors involved in survival relative to pioneers include the limited, protection of patents, complacency, the mobility of staff with expertise in a new technology (in this case cel animation), and the neglected importance of managerial and organizational factors. It is shown that the findings also have implications for the population ecology approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a research evidence concerning the introduction of performance appraisal in United Kingdom's universities. Purpose of proposing the notion of `procedural compliance'; Findings derive from a study of appraisal in four universities; How the procedural compliance is useful in illuminating the reactions of respondents to appraisal; Conclusions.

In spite of the fact that qualitative/ethnographic research into education has gained in popularity in recent years, its relationship with quantitative research is far from resolved. The authors argue that there are strong arguments of a research strategy which combines the two approaches. A case study of methodological integration is provided in which an ethnographic stance dovetailed with the use of quantitative technique, viz, the triadic elicitation method. The implications of the research are explored in terms of the advantages that accrue to research into classrooms. In particular, it is argued that a superior over-all account emerges, than than which could be provided by a total reliance on one style of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The original Aston studies of organizations established very strong correlations between size and a number of dimensions or organization structure. Many of the Aston group's findings have been found to be capable of replication; replicability has been established in both the context of similar samples of British organizations and also cross-culturally. This article analyses data on a selection of structural dimensions drawn from the national replication of 82 organizations, which were obtained from the Aston Databank at the ESRC Data Archive in Great Britain. The analysis reported here focuses upon the three structuring of activities dimensions, i.e. function specialization, overall standardization and overall formalization, and in addition, overall role specialization. The results reported indicate that there is no flattening of the relationship between log size and standardization, formalization and role specialization. The pattern for functional specialization was found to differ in this respect, such that it appears there is no relationship with log size over 2,445 employees. One interpretation of this latter finding is that functional specialization reaches its asymptotic value at around 2,445 employees.

Focuses on internal labour market (ILM) processes. Concept of the ILM and the range of theoretical perspectives on their growth and use; Discussion of empirical material on internal labour market recruitment in Great Britain; Studies demonstrating the importance of internal recruitment; Implications of studies of recruitment for the continuing conceptualization of the labour market as consisting of internal and external markets linked to internal and external processes.

Examines employers' strategies in relation to their demand for labour. Sociological concern on the demand for labour as result of growing awareness of the influence of market forces on employment opportunities; Application of the basic process underlying the production of crime statistics to the production of unemployment and vacancies statistics; Selection criteria used by employers to assess job candidates; Components in the generation of labour demand; Employers' recruitment practices.

Higher Education: A New Framework is the new White Paper for Higher Education and was issued simultaneously with another White Paper, Education and Training for the 21st Century: The Challenge to Colleges. Together, they represent the direction of future policy for post‐16 education and training. The White Paper is a White Paper in name only: it comes in the form of a lavish, multi‐coloured brochure and at £6#lb60 for 41 pages, it cannot be considered a snip. What it says about the future of higher education, however, is of great significance. This article has two major sections: a general summary of the chief provisions of HE, and a commentary on them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article considers the relationship between journalists and social scientific organizations in the context of a professional conference. Social scientists perform a multi-functional role as researcher, teacher and expert. The academic conference provides an opportunity for all these roles to be engaged and as such is a political and social site where meaning is debated and new research born. The conference is also attractive to journalists as news fodder. This article considers the relationship between journalists and social scientific organizations in the context of a professional conference and seeks to explain the tensions that exist. It concludes that the two cultures of journalist and academic are in conflict where they converge. This article has explored the role of the conference in getting media coverage for the social sciences. This research reveals very real tensions both within the profession of social science research and between the social scientist and journalist. Between social scientists and journalists the tensions can be explained in part by the sharply differentiated cultures of public dissemination.

This note seeks to explore the extent to which clergy in the Church of England and the Methodist and Roman Catholic Churches exhibit professionalism, as measured by the Hall professionalism scale. By and large, the findings are negative, in that a factor analysis reveals a poor "fit" between the theoretical dimensions which underpin the scale and the resultant factor structure for each group of clergy. The implications of the findings for the sociological analysis of the clergy as a profession are briefly explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The British bus industry, outside London, was deregulated in October 1986. For the first time since the 1930s bus operators were able to compete within local markets and experiment with service delivery. As a consequence, it was contended that deregulation would arrest the long term decline in bus patronage. This paper begins by documenting the key trends within the industry which have emerged since 1986. It then considers the implications of deregulation and privatization from an organizational perspective, at the level of the individual bus company. Findings from a study of nine British bus companies are presented and discussed. Their three principal strategic responses to the deregulated operating environment are identified and discussed. The evidence suggests that the ability of an individual bus company to innovate in ways which will guarantee its survival is heavily circumscribed. As a consequence, the capacity of an individual bus company to achieve the requisite level of internal stability to face competition, to become more sensitive to changing market conditions, and to grow, has not been eased significantly in the seven years since deregulation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The past few years have seen the voluntary transport sector grow and diversify, despite the uncertainty faced over funding. Statutory involvement in voluntary transport provision has increased, with passenger transport authorities creating community transport policies and budgets and local councils undertaking authority-wide reviews of special needs transport service provision. This article examines the voluntary-statutory sector relationship and comments on the increasing involvement of the public sector in voluntary transport provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities have had to respond to the Government's requirement for greater accountability and efficiency in the use of public resources. This has resulted in a movement to more commercial or executive styles of management, and with this the introduction of systematic staff appraisal. Funded by the Department of Education and Science (DES), the authors are conducting an evaluation of university staff appraisal schemes as they begin to operate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the concepts of leadership and cultural change, both of which are central to the recognition of the people dimension in the public sector. There has been a considerable growth of interest in leadership and organisational, or often called corporate culture, by organisational researchers in recent years. These topics have been emphasised, in large part, because they have been viewed as areas in which the performance of organisations can be substantially enhanced. As this discussion will highlight, there is a link between the two themes in that leaders are often depicted in the emerging literature as playing a key role in the creation of oganisational culture. However, whereas leadership has been of interest to social scientists and others for around a century, thereby engendering a voluminous literature. In this discussion, the two areas will be briefly reviewed and their points of affinity identified. The bulk of the literature on the linkage between leadership and culture has been grounded in a preoccupation with private business and commerce. However, some conjectural thoughts about the implications for management in the public sector will be proffered.

The research data reported in this article were collected as part of a program of research into management strategies in relation to the demand for labor. The research project, funded by the Employment Services Division of the Manpower Services Commission**, was designed to investigate the ways in which a sample of firms in the private sector (both service and manufacturing) in the East Midlands established their demand for new and replacement labor, formulated and publicized that demand and then recruited. The research design included a detailed consideration of firms' established procedures for recruitment to four occupational categories as well as accounts of recruitment to their two most recent vacancies. It is the material relating to the ways in which firms handled recruitment to these different occupational groups and explanations of the patterns found which form the focus of discussion.
Such a possibility argues for the fuller consideration of the similarities as well as the variations in recruitment procedures and has consequences for attempts to answer the question of why firms recruit in particular ways; for example, why some firms use the job center and others the local press. It is this issue which is considered in this article in the framework of the detailed research data provided by the East Midlands sample. An outline of the research project is followed by a description and interpretation of the research findings.
Each of the elements of the data about recruitment processes reinforces the picture of considerable variation in the ways in which such processes are handled in the sample of 41 firms. With the possible exception of management recruitment processes, each stage of the expression of demand is characterized by more or less use of each of the available channels for each of the other three occupational groups.
Such findings are, in large measure, unexpected in that initial approaches to the material in the context of... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main dimensions of the debate about the relative characteristics and merits of quantitative and qualitative methodology are outlined, emphasizing the philosophical issues which underpin much of the discussion. A distinction is drawn between epistemological and technical issues in relation to the controversy. Three areas are then selected which demonstrate a tendency for the debate to oscillate between epistemological and technical modes of expression. The question is raised as to whether it is possible to establish a clear symmetry between epistemological positions (e.g. phenomenology, positivism) and associated techniques of social research (e.g. participant observation, social survey). The conclusion is sceptical about the extent to which a neat correspondence can currently be established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following a discussion of recent literature concerned with leadership, the authors note that there is a tendency for many writers to marginalize contextual issues when examining the impact of leaders on organizations. Taking a study of three community transport organizations in the UK, the authors seek to apply some of the currently popular themes in the leadership literature to the coordinators of these organizations. It is shown that one can usefully be described as a transactional leader, another as a transformational leader, while the third is characterized as a 'frustrated transformational leader'. The application of the adjective 'frustrated' serves as a focus for the consideration of contextual factors that inhibited this leader, who can legitimately be described as transformational, and which thwarted his capacity to see through his vision. A number of different contextual features are noted and it is shown how these severely constrained and in the end frustrated the aspirations of this coordinator. Some implications of these findings for the literature on leadership and on organizational transformation are spelled out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article addresses the criticism of redundancy leveled at rational system models of organizational analysis and rational decision-making. This article examines the main points of the rational debate, clarifying the concern over the discarding of the rational system model and its implications on notions of rationality in organizational analysis. Among the issues discussed are the retreat from rationality in organizational analysis, soft rationality, types of rationality, and organization and domination. The author argues that even soft or weaker concepts of rationality do have credence in organizational analysis, something to which even those at the forefront of the wave of natural system approaches to organizational analysis will agree.

This article is concerned to demonstrate the utility of the notion of culture at the industry level. A multiple-case study of nine British bus companies highlights the way in which entrenched views and practices which were common among the nine companies restricted the range of strategic thinking among them. Many of these views and practices are emblematic of traditional bus company perspectives and are common throughout the industry. The reasons for the “hold” that the industry culture has on managers are examined. These include such factors as the impact of leadership and the inheritance of pre-deregulation features. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Transport services provided by voluntary organisations have grown dramatically in recent years. However, little systematic research has been undertaken on the functioning of these organisations. The aim of the research on which this paper is based was to rectify the lack of information on how decisions relating to service provision are made by such organisations - often called 'community transport' (CT) operators. Three organisations were selected for a comparative case study approach. The results show that the leadership approach of their key staff was of particular significance. Each organisation is moving in the direction of greater professionalism and away from its community roots. This cultural change can be attributed to responses to external forces, especially those affecting resources. Evidence suggests they are being forced towards adopting practices of the private sector, but that this need not be the case. Community transport provision is in a period of transition, the outcome of which may radically alter both its structure and its survival capacities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the use of qualitative research methods in the study of leadership in the construction industry. Interviews were conducted on site with all main contractors' personnel occupying supervisory/management positions in each case. In addition, where access was made available, subcontractors' site and visiting head office representatives were interviewed. The interviews in each case were semi- structured in nature. The research aimed to glean comparable data from each of the three construction projects. The semi-structured interview schedule was administered to comparable personnel so that systematic data across the three projects could be accumulated and compared. The chief focus of the presentation of the research findings is the perception by site managers and others in site leadership positions of the need to respond to a number of situational factors associated with construction projects. What emerged from the interviews was a recognition that the site manager needs to be a leadership chameleon, continually adjusting his style to suit different people and circumstances. Similar portrayals are appropriate in respect of other site personnel in supervisory positions.

The article examines the relationship between organization size and the proportion of administrators in churches. Churches are used as an example of voluntary organization. The article hypothesizes that there is a positive relationship between the size of the organization and the size of the administrative ratio and there will be a negative relationship between the extent of spatial dispersion and the size of the administrative ratio. The hypotheses suggested that there are other factors, which may mediate the effects of size either by reinforcing it, or by acting against it. In voluntary organizations in general, and for churches in particular, the mainspring of growth in employed organizational personnel is the number of people registered or regarded as members. On reaching certain size, support personnel are introduced to cope with special problems, to coordinate the work of others, to plan the future and provide information. Unlike other large organizations, Churches seem to have a larger proportion of personnel in staff position. In churches this represents a growth in personnel to deal with specific problems or specific sectors rather than with general pastoral duties.

Examines the drug prevention efforts and the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program in Great Britain. Five approaches of drug prevention programs; Background information on DARE; Features of resistance programs, particulary of DARE.

This study attempted to discern, by means of an experimental design, whether implicit leadership theories, which have been found to be potent forces in answering questionnaires on leader behavior in the United States, operate in the same degree and to the same effect in Britain. The data provide strong support for the operation of implicit leadership theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years there has been a growth of interest in breaking down the divisions between qualitative and quantitative research. However, although examples of multi-method studies now abound, there has been little discussion within the literature about the empirical and theoretical challenges that such eclecticism can pose. This article provides an example of a multi-method investigation into social scientists and their media relations wherein qualitative and quantitative findings appeared to contradict each other, and describes how the authors sought to explain and accommodate these discrepancies. Using this case study, they argue that it is incumbent on all researchers committed to the integration of research methods to deal with any differences that may emerge, rather than to resort to selective, epistemic prioritization as a get-out clause. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of the increased interest in the role of situational factors as moderators of leader orientation-performance relationships, the possible role of organizational transience as a mediating variable has been ignored. The authors used Fiedler's Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) Scale in a study of 39 construction site managers. It was found that these managers have a stronger task orientation than other occupational groups who are typically located in relatively permanent organizations. The degree of transience of construction sites (i.e. the length of projects) moderated the LPC-performance relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]