Management Oasis

Boutros-Ghali, Boutros. Foreign Affairs; New York Vol. 75, Iss. 2,  (Mar/Apr 1996): 86. A NEW ROLE FOR THE  SECRETARY -GENERAL THE DEFINITION of the U.N.  secretary -genera l's role is far from precise. The U.N. Charter identifies the  secretary -general as "the chief administrative officer" of the United Nations, permits him to "bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security," and instructs him to perform those functions entrusted to him by U.N. organs, but it leaves much about the position a mystery. This is not a liability but an asset. The leeway the language of the charter provides is essential if the United Nations as a whole, and the  secretary -general in particular, are to deal effectively with the rapidly changing complexity of human and international affairs. During the Cold War, the superpowers controlled global decisions, and the ideological conte...

Riipinen, Markku. The Journal of Social Psychology; Philadelphia Vol. 136, Iss. 3,  (Jun 1996): 291. Work involvement has traditionally been viewed as a function of stable personality factors. Researchers have suggested that work involvement is a function of intrinsic needs, such as those for achievement, for autonomy, and for control (Lawler & Hall, 1970). Intrinsic needs, which relate to interest in work for its own sake, can be contrasted with extrinsic needs, which relate to interest in work for external reasons (Deci & Ryan, 1991, p. 52). The hypothesized relationship between work involvement and intrinsic needs is believed to be a product of the Protestant work ethic (Dubin, 1956; Lawler & Hall, 1970) and thus a product of a person's history. Because work involvement is based on past socialization, it is not dependent upon present need satisfaction in a job (Misra, Kanungo, Rosenstiel, & Stuhler, 1985); need satisfaction (satisfaction with job factors that...

Towle, Michael J. Presidential Studies Quarterly; Washington Vol. 27, Iss. 2,  (Spring 1997): 297-319. In the fall of 1957, Journalism Review printed an article entitled "President Eisenhower and his Press  Secretary " which examined "the more authoritative role" played by Eisenhower's press  secretary , James C. Hagerty. After noting the able manner in which Hagerty managed the news conferences following Eisenhower's heart attack, the author of the article attempted to underscore his point by stating: So adept was Hagerty's management of the news conferences which he held . . . that a national magazine did a "profile" of the press  secretary  to give readers more information about the President's lieutenant.' Thirty-four years later this statement seems out of place. But in 1957 it was indeed surprising that a national news magazine-in this case Newsweek-would profile the press  secretary . The brief span of time in which the pr...

Urquhart, Brian. Foreign Affairs; New York Vol. 74, Iss. 3,  (May 1995): 21. During periods of international disaster, a troubled world feels the need for an outstanding full-time supervisor. At first, with the horrors of World War I still fresh in their minds, the founders of the League of Nations considered calling the head of their organization "chancellor." When World War II was at its height, the title "moderator" was suggested for the head of the future United Nations. In both cases, the wartime mood passed, and the more bureaucratic title of " secretary -general " was chosen. From the outset, the U.N.  secretary -general has been an important part of the institution, not only as its chief executive, but as both symbol and guardian of the original vision of the organization. There, however, specific agreement has ended. The United Nations, like any important organization, needs strong and independent leadership, but it is an intergovernmental or...

Sotirin, Patricia JeanAuthor InformationView Profile; Miller, David JamesAuthor InformationView Profile. The American Journal of Semiotics; Kent Vol. 11, Iss. 1/2,  (1994): 215-235. It is now a commonplace to argue that a privileged term within a given economy of difference more often than not accrues such privilege at the expense of another term which serves as its alibi. It is part of the same topoi to claim further that the strict delineation of this hierarchical imbalance dissimulates an interpenetration that binds the terms to one another. The resulting ambivalence of terms, evidenced in the indelible traces of the other borne by each of the terms, produces a terminal tension that threatens to undermine the privilege itself. A perpetual vigilance is required in order to maintain that privilege. But is such vigilance always enough? What happens when this ambivalence and its attendant tension is exploited from outside the economy itself-from the standpoint of a more encompa...

Ames, Lynda JAuthor InformationView Profile. NWSA Journal; Baltimore Vol. 8, Iss. 2,  (Summer 1996): 37. For women, two of the most salient features of the modern world of paid labor are bureaucratized workplaces and a sex-segregated labor market. Most women work in jobs predominantly held by women, most of which are near the bottom of organizations characterized by hierarchy and compartmentalization. These two features of women's jobs are the result of specific forces of domination and oppression, and have consequences for the workplace activities of women. Jobs at the bottom of bureaucratic hierarchies give incumbents little or no power over their work, or autonomy, or much opportunity to move up in the organization or change the conditions of the work. As women's work, too, jobs are organizationally and culturally defined as relatively unskilled and are consequently demeaned in terms of both pay and respect. Women working in these female-dominated, low-level jobs expe...

Silver, George A. American Journal of Public Health; Washington Vol. 87, Iss. 4,  (Apr 1997): 681-6. In response to professional and political pressures in 1967, an incident occurred at the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare that illustrates the delicacy and complexity of the legislative process. In an effort to bypass interest group influences, the undersecretary of the Department undertook a maneuver that backfired and frustrated an opportunity that might have resulted in the establishment of a Cabinet office of Health. In addition to demonstrating the sensitivity of the legislative process, and the dangers of overconfidence in dealing with the process, the events also offer moral guidance: too stubborn, idealistic convictions of good people, however well intentioned the actions, may serve to defeat the desired ends. (Am J Public Health. 1997;87:681-686) Introduction History chronicles what happened, including the successes or failures inherent in specific ...

Rossouw, G JAuthor InformationView Profile. Journal of Business Ethics: JBE; Dordrecht Vol. 16, Iss. 14,  (Oct 1997): 1539-1547. Business ethics has become part of the South African vocabulary both on a practical and a theoretical level. The need for business ethics has been expressed by politicians, business leaders, and academics. The president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, for example said at the opening of Parliament (February 17, 1995): "We are conscious of the reality that corruption in many forms has deeply infected the fibre of our society. Precisely because we face the challenge of dealing with systematic corruption, we need a dispassionate and systematic approach to this question." In this paper an assessment will be made of the state of business ethics as an academic discipline as well as on the extent to which theory on business ethics has been translated into practice within South African society. The paper is based on a literature study, a questionnaire t...

Greenberg, Daniel S. The New England Journal of Medicine; Boston Vol. 303, Iss. 26,  (Dec 25, 1980): 1542-1544. Given President-elect Reagan's commitment to cut taxes and increase military spending while reducing the total budget, federal health programs -- now running at about 10 per cent of all federal spending -- may seem to rank high as sacrificial prospects. But as the incoming administration goes through a stock taking, its health-related deliberations are focusing more on deregulating, rather than dedollaring, the government role in the national health enterprise. The reason, quite simply, is that, although it is attractive to pound on alleged fraud waste, costly staffing, and other standard targets of tax-revolt politics, most federal health spending is politically sacrosanct. In fact, over 90 per cent of the approximately $55 billion budgeted under "health-care services" this year is dished out as "entitlements" -- which means that any citizen match...