Purpose: To evaluate the long-term impact of three types of creativity training workshops conducted within an organization and contrast the influence of training compared with work environment factors in influencing employee innovation. Design/methodology/approach: A follow-up questionnaire was returned by 71 employees who had taken part in the…

Objective: This paper reports women seafarers' experiences of sexual harassment. Design: Data reported in this paper were collected as part of a larger study exploring company policies and practices relating to women seafarers and the experiences of women seafarers themselves. Setting: Data reported here was collected with women from seven…

In the workplace of today which is increasingly being overloaded with information, the concept of intelligent information agents has been widely prescribed. This paper briefly looks at the United Kingdom Government's Information Society Initiative which has been fueled by the realization that information is the key component of the ongoing…

Different gender cultures can create dilemmas for women in the workplace. Although mentoring can help address this problem, there are at least three different available mentoring models (the apprenticeship, the competency model, and the reflective practitioner). Examines definitions and grounds for choosing among mentoring alternatives.…

"Foreword" (Handy); "Creda's Vocational Training Scheme" (Bradley); "IBM: Learning for Life" (Stevenson); "Personal Development at Sainsbury's" (Deaves); "Ford Employee Development and Assistance Programmes" (Moore); "Hotpoint North Wales" (Jones); "Derbyshire Employee Development…

Union Learning Representatives (ULRs) are a relatively recent phenomenon and are a new category of lay representation within the workplace in the United Kingdom. They are part of the present New Labour administration's drive to expand and improve lifelong learning and create the new "learning society"--in this case, particularly amongst…

This paper compares the findings of two studies, conducted in 1998 and 2004, of academic staff in British universities. It examines the stability over time of working hours, specific work stressors and levels of psychological distress. Comparisons are also made between the levels of psychological distress currently reported by academic staff and…

This paper follows an empirical study of how teachers were represented in British newspapers during the 1990s. Its purpose is to describe some of the findings arising from a comparison of the data and representations of teachers in educational research literature. The topic of teacher representation was a matter of personal interest to the…

Purpose: This paper seeks to surface less positive aspects of communities of practice (CoPs), regardless of emergent or organisationally managed, grounded in political-power interactions. Examples are provided from the authors' experiences of a research-based CoP within UK higher education. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is primarily…

This book presents the results of a study that examined major changes in academic work in recent years and how staff in universities have experienced these changes, along with a discussion of how to increase learning at universities. Data were obtained from an international survey of 161 academic staff in Australia and the United Kingdom. Results…

This article presents findings of a two-year study on equal opportunity commissioned by the British Department of Employment. Findings revealed that success of equal opportunity policies and practices would appear to be contingent upon their direct relevance to workplace problems and the degree to which employees are involved in formulating and…

Purpose: To explore the reflections of primary headteachers on a series of major policy initiatives introduced by successive Conservative and Labour governments from 1988 to 2003. Design/methodology/method: The methodology is an interview-based survey of six headteachers. The interviews were structured around the headteachers' recollections of…

With the growth of globalization, organizations are facing an increased challenge to manage talent, improve employee engagement, develop effective teams, create succession pipelines, and increase organizational effectiveness in multinational settings. Given the need to evaluate and compare individuals from more than one country using standardized…

Evidence from academic research and management experts in the United Kingdom and elsewhere confirms that the recent focus in work organizations on cost reductions through downsizing has changed the roles and structures of many human resources (HR) units. HR units have had to prove their contribution to the organization's bottom line, raise their…

The challenge of tackling the problem of coping with work related stress in a National Health Service (NHS) Trust was undertaken. Ideas were developed within the context of two different action learning sets and led to actions resulting in a large therapy Taster Session event and the establishment of a centre offering alternative therapies and…