The 'global city' misconceived: the myth of 'global management' in transnational service firms

The ‘global city hypothesis' proposed by Saskia Sassen – and subsequently developed by Manuel Castells and others in the theory of a globalized urban network – has in recent years formed the basis for the argument that power and control in transnational firms (TNCs) is primarily situated in global head-offices. Such offices are located in key urban centres such as London, New York or Tokyo where global managerial power is ultimately wielded and where senior managers make strategic decisions about transnational business activity. This paper takes issue with this theoretical legacy, arguing that the idea of strong centralised managerial power and control in contemporary TNCs is far more complex than this literature suggests. It explores how managerial control in some of the supposedly most globalized of business service industries – investment banking and management consultancy – cannot be understood as being centralised in global headquarter offices, and nor does it purely reside with a few senior managers at the top of the transnational organisation. Rather, it argues that managerial control in TNCs is diffused throughout a transnational network of management-level employees, and that strategic power in transnational firms resides with a larger and more dispersed group of actors than has been previously suggested. These arguments are developed through analysis of qualitative research into the managerial strategies and practices of senior business practitioners in the transnational investment banking and management consultancy industries. In presenting qualitative data from interviews with senior management in transnational corporate head offices, the paper thus examines the decision-making process of global management practice and unpacks the complex context in which transnational corporate strategy develops in such firms

A Story of Collaboration: Haifa Council of Volunteer Organizations and Shatil

The present essay tells the story of a partnership between two organizations: the Haifa Council of Volunteer Organizations (CVO) and the Haifa branch of Shatil (The New Israel Fund’s Empowerment and Training Center for Social Change Organizations in Israel). They have cooperated for many years and, in the last two years, have further tightened their partnership. The first part of this essay presents a theoretical framework that serves as a basis for the case study discussed in the second part. The summary offers a number of open ended questions for further consideration and research

Legitimizing Languages in the Classroom: A Case Study of an Ontario Private School for Russian-Speaking Students

In this ethnographic case study, I investigated how Ontario elementary school administrators, teachers, and students legitimize linguistic diversity in one Ontario private elementary school that served students from the Russian-speaking community in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Pierre Bourdieus (1991) framework of legitimate language was used to analyze how aspects of language practices are legitimized, for whom and under what conditions, and what this means for participants within the context of informal and formal instruction. This study was grounded in qualitative research methodology. A total of 8 participants were involved in this study: I interviewed and observed 1 school administrator and 1 educator, I observed 1 art teacher volunteer and 5 students, 3 males and 2 females aged 9 to 11 in Grade 4/5. The research methodology of triangulation was used to make comparisons between multiple data sources. Particularly, this study relies on in-depth structured interviews, classroom observations that were conducted over a period of one month in a Grade 4/5 classroom during regular classroom hours, critical discourse analysis (CDA) of national Canadian language and multicultural policy and how it has formed educational practice in Canadian schools, and review of current research literature related to the studys research questions. The findings revealed how student achievement was attained in instructional contexts that actively leveraged and maintained students linguistic, cultural, and intellectual resources. School administration and educators worked in response to the dynamism of linguistic and cultural student demographics within the parameters of parental and community interests to rethink curricular practices. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that when participants leveraged knowledge of Russian as a common language and when educators integrated Russian into their instruction, it offered opportunities for student engagement and enhancement within the classroom