Misconceiving Merit

Misconceiving Merit PDF Author: Mary Blair-Loy
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226820149
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
An incisive study showing how cultural ideas of merit in academic science produce unfair and unequal outcomes. In Misconceiving Merit, sociologists Mary Blair-Loy and Erin A. Cech uncover the cultural foundations of a paradox. On one hand, academic science, engineering, and math revere meritocracy, a system that recognizes and rewards those with the greatest talent and dedication. At the same time, women and some racial and sexual minorities remain underrepresented and often feel unwelcome and devalued in STEM. How can academic science, which so highly values meritocracy and objectivity, produce these unequal outcomes? Blair-Loy and Cech studied more than five hundred STEM professors at a top research university to reveal how unequal and unfair outcomes can emerge alongside commitments to objectivity and excellence. The authors find that academic STEM harbors dominant cultural beliefs that not only perpetuate the mistreatment of scientists from underrepresented groups but hinder innovation. Underrepresented groups are often seen as less fully embodying merit compared to equally productive white and Asian heterosexual men, and the negative consequences of this misjudgment persist regardless of professors’ actual academic productivity. Misconceiving Merit is filled with insights for higher education administrators working toward greater equity as well as for scientists and engineers striving to change entrenched patterns of inequality in STEM.

Misconceiving Merit

Misconceiving Merit PDF Author: Mary Blair-Loy
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226820149
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 259

Get Book Here

Book Description
An incisive study showing how cultural ideas of merit in academic science produce unfair and unequal outcomes. In Misconceiving Merit, sociologists Mary Blair-Loy and Erin A. Cech uncover the cultural foundations of a paradox. On one hand, academic science, engineering, and math revere meritocracy, a system that recognizes and rewards those with the greatest talent and dedication. At the same time, women and some racial and sexual minorities remain underrepresented and often feel unwelcome and devalued in STEM. How can academic science, which so highly values meritocracy and objectivity, produce these unequal outcomes? Blair-Loy and Cech studied more than five hundred STEM professors at a top research university to reveal how unequal and unfair outcomes can emerge alongside commitments to objectivity and excellence. The authors find that academic STEM harbors dominant cultural beliefs that not only perpetuate the mistreatment of scientists from underrepresented groups but hinder innovation. Underrepresented groups are often seen as less fully embodying merit compared to equally productive white and Asian heterosexual men, and the negative consequences of this misjudgment persist regardless of professors’ actual academic productivity. Misconceiving Merit is filled with insights for higher education administrators working toward greater equity as well as for scientists and engineers striving to change entrenched patterns of inequality in STEM.

The Paradox of Excellence

The Paradox of Excellence PDF Author: David Mosby
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
All too often, customers take performance--particularly excellent performance--for granted, creating expectations that are difficult to live up to for businesses. The authors provide an entertaining and practical model for building and maintaining high customer loyalty and brand value.

The Human Paradox

The Human Paradox PDF Author: Ralph Heintzman
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1487541538
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 836

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Book Description
What is a human being? What does it mean to be human? How can you lead your life in ways that best fulfil your own nature? In The Human Paradox, Ralph Heintzman explores these vital questions and offers an exciting new vision of the nature of the human. The Human Paradox aims to counter or correct several contemporary assumptions about the nature of the human, especially the tendency of Western culture, since the seventeenth century, to identify the human with rationality and the rational mind. Using the lens of the virtues, The Human Paradox shows how rediscovering the nature of the human can help not just to understand one’s own paradoxical nature but to act in ways that are more consistent with its full reality. Offering accessible insight from both traditional and contemporary thought, The Human Paradox shows how a fuller, richer vision of the human can help address urgent contemporary problems, including the challenges of cultural and religious diversity, human migration and human rights, the role of the market, artificial intelligence, the future of democracy, and global climate change. This fresh perspective on the Western past will guide readers into what it means to be human and open new possibilities for the future.

Execution Excellence

Execution Excellence PDF Author: Sanjiv Anand
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119196485
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 185

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Book Description
A hands-on guidebook for making your strategy work with effective Balanced Scorecard design, deployment, and maintenance Execution Excellence is the practitioner's guide to real-world implementation. Designed by a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) thought leader with 30 years of experience and over 300 global implementations under his belt across a range of industry sectors, this guide gives you a hands-on framework for putting the BSC methodology into action. Clear, concise, and easy to read, this book skips the theoretical exposition to get right to the point—how can companies use BSC to effectively deploy strategy and drive individual and enterprise performance? You'll find the answers here. The discussion outlines the ways in which firms commonly fail in implementing BSC. These failures can be traced back to common design and implementation flaws: making the process too complicated and focusing on the BSC process rather than the outcome. The discussion will also cover design optimization across a range of key industry sectors. You'll gain expert insight into avoiding these missteps and the practical tools and perspective you need to implement BSC correctly the first time. While the Balanced Scorecard framework is widely accepted and praised, about half of firms that implement it fail to realize the full benefits. The fault lies not with the framework, but with the design, and more importantly—execution. This book gives you the information and tools you need to adopt BSC successfully. Design a BSC that truly and simply reflects your strategy Customize the BSC to reflect your industry's uniqueness Define clear measurements and ownership that suit your strategy Develop a framework for efficient data collection and reporting Implement effective reviews to keep your business on track Use your Balanced Scorecard data to close performance gaps Developed in the early 1990s, the Balanced Scorecard framework has been recognized as one of the most seminal business ideas in the last 75 years. Thousands of companies around the world use BSC to create and maintain a performance-oriented enterprise, yet just as many try and fail. Execution Excellence shows you what you need to know and do to become a BSC success story.

Ten Years to Midnight

Ten Years to Midnight PDF Author: Blair H. Sheppard
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 1523088761
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
“Shows how humans have brought us to the brink and how humanity can find solutions. I urge people to read with humility and the daring to act.” —Harpal Singh, former Chair, Save the Children, India, and former Vice Chair, Save the Children International In conversations with people all over the world, from government officials and business leaders to taxi drivers and schoolteachers, Blair Sheppard, global leader for strategy and leadership at PwC, discovered they all had surprisingly similar concerns. In this prescient and pragmatic book, he and his team sum up these concerns in what they call the ADAPT framework: Asymmetry of wealth; Disruption wrought by the unexpected and often problematic consequences of technology; Age disparities--stresses caused by very young or very old populations in developed and emerging countries; Polarization as a symptom of the breakdown in global and national consensus; and loss of Trust in the institutions that underpin and stabilize society. These concerns are in turn precipitating four crises: a crisis of prosperity, a crisis of technology, a crisis of institutional legitimacy, and a crisis of leadership. Sheppard and his team analyze the complex roots of these crises--but they also offer solutions, albeit often seemingly counterintuitive ones. For example, in an era of globalization, we need to place a much greater emphasis on developing self-sustaining local economies. And as technology permeates our lives, we need computer scientists and engineers conversant with sociology and psychology and poets who can code. The authors argue persuasively that we have only a decade to make headway on these problems. But if we tackle them now, thoughtfully, imaginatively, creatively, and energetically, in ten years we could be looking at a dawn instead of darkness.

The Business of Excellence

The Business of Excellence PDF Author: Justin Hughes
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472930231
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
"A vivid, compelling and highly readable insight into building world-leading teams and organizations." - Dr Catherine Raines, Chief Executive, UK Trade & Investment The Business of Excellence offers a unique and compelling perspective on the drivers of excellence in teams and organizations. The author, Justin Hughes, brings an unusual mix of experience and insight, having worked as a management consultant to some of the world's most successful organizations, in addition to having served for 12 years as a military fighter pilot, where he became Executive Officer on the RAF Red Arrows. The challenges of high performance and leadership are explored in depth, and are illustrated with insights, interviews and case studies from the military, sporting and corporate worlds. The material includes a proprietary performance model that can be applied to a wide spectrum of organizations, focusing on: · People: the primacy of attitude over skills · Capability: building alignment before setting people free · Delivery: a process to close the gap between desired and actual outcomes · Learning: how to accelerate performance in real time · Leadership: exhibiting a set of behaviours such that others choose to follow · Risk: avoiding the victory of compliance over outcomes. In The Business of Excellence, Justin deconstructs the drivers of high performance with a rare clarity, insight and accessibility, to illustrate and explain tangible tools and methods, all of which can be applied by readers in their own teams and organizations.

The Politics of Excellence

The Politics of Excellence PDF Author: Robert Marc Friedman
Publisher: W H Freeman & Company
ISBN: 9780716731030
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 379

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Book Description
Reveals all the politics & personal agendas that dictate who has been awarded the Prize, & just as importantly, who has not. Published in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the Prizes.

The Habit of Excellence

The Habit of Excellence PDF Author: Lt Col Langley Sharp
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241992192
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
The official British Army book on what makes its leadership so successful, and how to become a better leader yourself - whatever your field. ___________________ 'If you want to become a better leader, read this book' Eddie Jones 'An extraordinary read for any leader. Truly brilliant' General Stanley McChrystal, author of Team of Teams 'Excellent. Offers proven tools and strategies' Matthew Syed ___________________ The Habit of Excellence is a unique insight into British Army leadership, explaining what makes it unique, what makes it so effective and what civilians can take from it to become better leaders themselves. Drawing on the latest research in military history, business, sociology, psychology and behavioural science, and with compelling illustration from British Army operations across the centuries, Lt Col Langley Sharp MBE goes beyond the latest leadership fads to distil into one peerlessly authoritative work the essence of leading and leadership from one of the world's most revered institutions. ___________________ 'Excellent. It's hard to see how any leader, whatever their field, wouldn't benefit from reading and rereading it' New Statesman 'Offers lessons for all managers' Financial Times 'Valuable in any walk of life' General Sir Mike Jackson, former Chief of the General Staff 'Very readable. I could not recommend this exceptional book more' General The Lord David Richards, former Chief of the Defence Staff 'Comprehensive and clearly written' Karin von Hippel, Director-General of RUSI 'Terrific. Full of insights and lessons' General David Petraeus, former Director of the CIA

The Paradox of Choice

The Paradox of Choice PDF Author: Barry Schwartz
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061748994
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions—both big and small—have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. As Americans, we assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice—the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish—becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice—from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs—has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counter intuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.

Excellence Wins

Excellence Wins PDF Author: Horst Schulze
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 031035210X
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Horst Schulze knows what it takes to win. In Excellence Wins, the cofounder and former president of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company lays out a blueprint for becoming the very best in a world of compromise. In his characteristic no-nonsense approach, Schulze shares the visionary and disruptive principles that have led to immense global success over the course of his still-prolific fifty-year career in the hospitality industry. For over twenty years, Schulze fearlessly led the company to unprecedented multibillion dollar growth, setting the business vision and people-focused standards that made the Ritz-Carlton brand world renowned. In Excellence Wins, Schulze shares his approach to everything from providing the best customer service to creating a culture of excellence within your organization. With his tried-and-true methods and inspiring, hard-earned wisdom, Schulze teaches you everything you need to know about: Why leading well is an acquired skill Serving your customers Engaging your employees Creating a culture of customer service Why vision statements make a difference What it really means to practice servant leadership Schulze's principles are designed to be versatile and practical no matter where you are in your career. He'll remind you that you don't need a powerful title or dozens of direct reports to benefit from the advice he shares in Excellence Wins--you have everything you need to apply it to your life and career right now. Let Schulze's incredible story help you unleash the disruptive power of your true potential, beat the competition, own your career trajectory, and experience the game-changing power of what happens when Excellence Wins.