Article Abstract:
Labor unions in the US originally focused their concerns on 'the job territory'; issues that directly affected employment. Unions since the late 1960s have extended their activities into areas previously thought to be the prerogative of management, such as means of manufacture and scheduling of operations. This change in perspective has been brought about by economic changes such as increased international competition, technological advances, and deregulation. In many cases, unions and management have been forced to make concessions for the sake of mutual survival. There are indications that organized labor believes that more issues should be jointly determined, but the majority of labor leaders still feel that issues outside of the job territory should be left to management alone.
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Article Abstract:
Programs that successfully stimulate innovation within organizations have two distinguishing factors: an orientation toward the needs of the market, and enforcing, repeatable business practices that emphasize consistency and innovation. The process of making innovation a skill that can be learned and repeated consists of: looking for opportunities, even in areas of corporate weakness or failure; evaluating opportunities in terms of their potential return and cultural appropriateness; identifying critical issues and risk containment procedures for opportunities; and following an implementation plan designed to win acceptance within the organization.
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Article Abstract:
Human resources departments are under increasing pressure to make assertive, creative contributions to their organizations, but much of the personnel manager's background and job responsibilities works against taking a proactive, as opposed to a reactive stance. Personnel managers should start assuming a proactive stance early in their careers by: being aware of the importance of a proactive style, gaining support from other managers in the organization to take on more creative responsibilities, learning to market ideas to management effectively, and not withdrawing when confronted with an unpopular idea.
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