Toward general principles of managerial fairness

The present study identified the principles employees use for judging a broad range of managerial actions. A cross-sectional sample of 44 executives were asked to describe recent fair and unfair treatment in seven areas of management responsibility: planning, staff development, delegating, motivating, coordinating, daily activities, and representing the organization to the public. These responses were coded to yield 16 rules guiding judgments about perceived managerial fairness. Aggregation of these rules yielded six major clusters of fairness concerns. The paper describes these clusters in detail and highlights their potential usefulness to a broader understanding of the complex nature of procedural fairness judgments in organizations.     

The dual governing system of the People's Republic of China

The dual governing system of the People's Republic of China has proved to be an effective way to cope with the extraordinary problems of managing a polity on the massive scale of China. Because it is unusual in the world today, perhaps even unique, it is important to clarify how the present order came about and how it functions. Some outsiders may unthinkingly assume that the Chinese government operates as the power governing the country. But in the People's Republic of China, the government is in fact the outward and visible face of the governance system. Behind (and above) the government is the Communist Party of China. The Party now has around 85 million members, between 5% and 6% of the population. This group defines the political class in today's China and functions as a leadership oligarchy. The Party determines policy and oversees appointments at all levels of public service. These officials are in fact in charge, dominating their government counterparts through the dual system of governance. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

LOCAL REGIMES: Does Globalization Challenge the “Growth Machine”?

This article explores the possible impacts that globalization might have upon the nature of local governments and the economic development policies that they adopt. We begin by outlining the theory of how “corporate regimes” dominate most urban centers, why they implement skewed economic development policies, and why globalization appears to be exacerbating these problems. Research on state‐and‐local economic development outside urban centers indicates that several types of business development exist and that they differ significantly in their implications for improving conditions in a community. This suggests that other types of corporate regimes are possible. The logic of globalization points toward the need to establish more progressive corporate regimes willing to implement some of the reforms advocated by critics of the “growth machine.”     

What not to wear and other stories: addressing religious diversity in schools

This article considers the position of religion in schools in England and Wales in light of the recent decision in The Queen on the application of SB v Headteacher and Governors of Denbigh High School. This held that the refusal to allow a pupil to wear the jilbab was a breach of her rights under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 and the Human Rights Act 1998. It contrasts approaches based on human rights principles with those based on discrimination law principles, highlighting overlap and inconsistency between both the definitions applicable to different forms of discrimination and the position of teachers and pupils. It concludes that the law is in urgent need of rationalisation to provide consistency.