Search results for ""Author David Stark""

What counts? In work, as in other areas of life, it is not always clear what standards we are being judged by or how our worth is being determined. This can be disorienting and disconcerting. Because of this, many organizations devote considerable resources to limiting and clarifying the logics used for evaluating worth. But as David Stark argues, firms would often be better off, especially in managing change, if they allowed multiple logics of worth and did not necessarily discourage uncertainty. In fact, in many cases multiple orders of worth are unavoidable, so organizations and firms should learn to harness the benefits of such "heterarchy" rather than seeking to purge it. Stark makes this argument with ethnographic case studies of three companies attempting to cope with rapid change: a machine-tool company in late and postcommunist Hungary, a new-media startup in New York during and after the collapse of the Internet bubble, and a Wall Street investment bank whose trading room was destroyed on 9/11. In each case, the friction of competing criteria of worth promoted an organizational reflexivity that made it easier for the company to change and deal with market uncertainty. Drawing on John Dewey's notion that "perplexing situations" provide opportunities for innovative inquiry, Stark argues that the dissonance of diverse principles can lead to discovery.

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David Stark could not find a book which explained climate change and related energy policy in appropriate detail without being patronising and alarmist so after seven years of research he wrote one himself. He believes that the contagion circulating through young people of the 21st century, eco-anxiety has spread because the agenda was set by activism where rational and informed debate is precluded. With this comprehensive - but entirely accessible - guide to climate change, debate and the healing process can now start. We can all begin to understand why efforts to date to ‘save the planet’ have hurt the economies of Western democracies and placed our energy and manufacturing security in the hands of autocracies. This book discusses the different arguments that are often heard in documentaries and news reports but breaks them down with facts and empirical scientific evidence, cutting through the hyperbole to see whether they are actually the cause for panic that we’ve been told they are and whether the solutions being proposed will really help. The current energy crisis suggests that the cure is worse than the disease.

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The numbers of farms and farmers on the Great Plains are dwindling. Disappearing even faster are the farm places-the houses, barns, and outbuildings that made the rural landscape a place of habitation. Nancy Warner's photographs tell the stories of buildings that were once loved yet have now been abandoned. Her evocative images are juxtaposed with the voices of Nebraska farm people, lovingly recorded by sociologist David Stark. These plainspoken recollections tell of a way of life that continues to evolve in the face of wrenching change. Warner's spare, formal photographs invite readers to listen to the cadences and tough-minded humor of everyday speech in the Great Plains. Stark's afterword grounds the project in the historical relationship between people and their land. In the tradition of Wright Morris, this combination of words and images is both art and document, evoking memories, emotions, and questions for anyone with rural American roots.

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Children's reactions to art can be incredibly insightful and few artists attract a young audience as much as Keith Haring, who used thick black lines, bright colors, and striking symbols to create paintings that are as open to interpretation as they are joyful and fun. This engaging book records children's reactions to Haring's most imaginative drawings, and the results are as unpredictable and profound as the work itself. Along the way, the book encourages its readers to let their own imaginations run wild. By exploring Haring's life, technique, and creativity, the book will inspire readers of all ages to express themselves, whether through art, poetry, or simply saying what is on their minds.

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