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1 – 10 of over 22000A distinction was drawn by Burns, the political scientist, between transforming and transactional leadership. The notion of transforming leadership struck a chord with behavioural…
Abstract
A distinction was drawn by Burns, the political scientist, between transforming and transactional leadership. The notion of transforming leadership struck a chord with behavioural scientists, but discrepancies and internal inconsistencies in their application of the concept arose. A way of clarifying the situation is to view transforming leadership as the application of meta leadership “visioning” to the macro‐leadership role of pathfinding and culture building. This idea is explored, taking a close look at transforming leadership as propounded by Burns.
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THIS Indicator was invented by Mr. Alfred Cotgreave, the present Librarian of West Ham, when he was librarian of the Wednesbury Public Library, in 1877. At the time of his…
Abstract
THIS Indicator was invented by Mr. Alfred Cotgreave, the present Librarian of West Ham, when he was librarian of the Wednesbury Public Library, in 1877. At the time of his invention an Elliot Indicator was in use at Wednesbury, and it was owing to the misplacement of borrowers' tickets in this Indicator, that Mr. Cotgreave's attention was drawn to the question of providing some remedy. He tried various schemes to prevent such mistakes, but ultimately decided that movable numbered blocks, filling up every space in the Indicator would best meet the difficulty. An Indicator on this principle was thereon designed, and later, the numbered blocks were replaced by wooden blocks having a record book attached. The Handsworth Public Library first adopted this Indicator. Subsequently the wooden block was superseded by a metal slide in which the little book carrying the record of issues was placed. In this form the Cotgreave Indicator has existed for a number of years, and it is so well known that it is almost unnecessary to give a description of it in detail. However, I have transcribed an account of its structure and working from one of the descriptive circulars issued in connection with it, from which anyone can gather a good idea of its appearance and use :—
The purpose of this paper is to examine why there were different representations and research applications of Burns and Stalker's The Management of Innovation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine why there were different representations and research applications of Burns and Stalker's The Management of Innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach primarily takes the form of an examination of academic journals, in particular The Administrative Science Quarterly between 1960 and 1980. Theoretical works, in particular by Bourdieu, were also used.
Findings
Contrary to accepted knowledge, the journals were eclectic in their approaches and did not require authors to adopt positivist approaches.
Research limitations/implications
A fuller answer to the question posed would require interviews with journal editors and university policy makers from the 1960s‐1980s. This has not been possible so far. Although some answers have been provided, questions still remain as to why certain representations of this book were dominant.
Practical implications
There are implications as to what counts as knowledge in academe, and how this knowledge should be treated, given that it may only partially represent the theory above and also other theories. This has implications for what is taught in universities and what is adopted by consultants as bona fide knowledge.
Originality/value
To the author's knowledge such questions using this type of research have not been examined in the detail pursued here.
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Nizar Mohammad Alsharari, Robert Dixon and Mayada Abd El-Aziz Youssef
– This paper aims to introduce and discuss a new contextual framework to explain the processes of management accounting change in various organizations.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to introduce and discuss a new contextual framework to explain the processes of management accounting change in various organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Having an institutional perspective, the paper develops a “conceptual contextual framework” of management accounting change. The methodology to accomplish this theory building consists of an integration of a number of different works summarizing the common elements, contrasting the differences and extending the work in some fashion. Particularly, it draws on theoretical triangulation by adopting three approaches: old institutional economics for internal processes and factors (Burns and Scapens, 2000); new institutional sociology for external processes and pressures (Dillard et al., 2004); and power and politics mobilization (Hardy, 1996).
Findings
The proposed framework provides an understanding of the complex “mixture” of interrelated factors that may influence management accounting change at multi-institutional levels: political and economic level, organizational field level and organizational level.
Research limitations/implications
The framework extends institutional theory-based management accounting research as well as provides a comprehensive basis for examining dynamics of accounting in the institutionalization process. Through further research, the framework will be extended and refined.
Practical implications
The paper has practical implications for practitioners and officers as well as for the accounting profession and academics alike.
Originality/value
The proposed contextual framework provides insights into the processes of change by focusing attention on the underlying institutions that encode accounting systems or practices in three institutional levels: political and economic level, the organizational field level and organization level. Examining the tension between institutionalized beliefs and values that may occur between these three levels of institutions will enhance our understanding of management accounting change in organizations.
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L. Welling, M. Boers, D.P. Mackie, P. Patka, J.J.L.M. Bierens, J.S.K. Luitse and R.W. Kreis
The optimum response to the different stages of a major burns incident is still not established. The fire in a café in Volendam on New Year's Eve 2000 was the worst incident in…
Abstract
Purpose
The optimum response to the different stages of a major burns incident is still not established. The fire in a café in Volendam on New Year's Eve 2000 was the worst incident in recent Dutch history and resulted in mass burn casualties. The fire has been the subject of several investigations concerned with organisational and medical aspects. Based on the findings in these investigations, a multidisciplinary research group started a consensus study. The aim of this study was to further identify areas of improvement in the care after mass burns incidents.
Design/methodology/approach
The consensus process comprised three postal rounds (Delphi Method) and a consensus conference (modified nominal group technique). The multidisciplinary panel consisted of 26 Dutch‐speaking experts, working in influential positions within the sphere of disaster management and healthcare.
Findings
In response to the postal questionnaires, consensus was reached for 66 per cent of the statements. Six topics were subsequently discussed during the consensus conference; three topics were discussed within the plenary session and three during subgroup meetings. During the conference, consensus was reached for seven statements (one subject generated two statements). In total, the panel agreed on 21 statements. These covered the following topics: registration and evaluation of disaster care, capacity planning for disasters, pre hospital care of victims of burns disasters, treatment and transportation priorities, distribution of casualties (including interhospital transports), diagnosis and treatment and education and training.
Originality/value
In disaster medicine, the paper shows how a consensus process is a suitable tool to identify areas of improvement of care after mass burns incidents.
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This paper aims to offer an incremental contribution, augmenting the notion of situated rationality as proposed by terBogt and Scapens (2019). Through insights from empirical…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to offer an incremental contribution, augmenting the notion of situated rationality as proposed by terBogt and Scapens (2019). Through insights from empirical data, the authors explore the role of situated rationalities of key individual actors in processes of management control change.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research approach was adopted with qualitative data collected in a single public service organisation through face-to-face interviews, organisation documentation and observations.
Findings
The findings present the important role of key individual actors in bringing about a new situated rationality in a housing department. External austerity forces combined with actors’ experience rationalities acted as a stimulus to change existing management control practices in the management of public services.
Originality/value
The paper conceptualises “experience” rationality, capturing the experiences of a key actor, including elements of leadership style. Drawing on a story of a complex process of management control change, this paper thus reveals interactions between generalised practices and situated rationalities which were not highlighted by the extended framework of terBogt and Scapens.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine what counts as knowledge in the organization/management field.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine what counts as knowledge in the organization/management field.
Design/methodology/approach
Conventional, legitimated knowledge is analyzed through research into representations of an influential management text. Management and management accounting textbooks and research papers are investigated to establish the types of knowledge produced.
Findings
Mainstream representations of this book are partial, focusing on a “model” of what is likely to ensure successful organizational change – structural and systemic adaptations. What has been ignored is the problematization of structural change and the role of human agency. The foci and omissions of these representations cohere with divisions in the social sciences more generally – between “objectivist” and “subjectivist” ontologies and epistemologies.
Research limitations/implications
There is a need for further research into representations of texts about organizational change, the way the objectivist/subjectivist divide is played out, and its significance for organization/management studies and more widely for the social sciences.
Practical implications
Questions arise as to the validity and sustainability of such knowledge. Omissions about the difficulties in implementing structural change raise epistemological and practical difficulties for students, managers and consultants.
Social implications
Omissions of human subjectivities and agency from mainstream knowledge is problematic regarding successful organizational change and social issues more widely.
Originality/value
The paper's value lies in the in‐depth analysis of representations of a text in the organization/management area and the linking of the type of knowledge produced with broader epistemological and methodological issues in the social sciences.
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Umesh Sharma, Stewart Lawrence and Alan Lowe
The purpose of this paper is to explicate the role of institutional entrepreneurs who use accounting technology to accomplish change within a privatised telecommunications…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explicate the role of institutional entrepreneurs who use accounting technology to accomplish change within a privatised telecommunications company.
Design/methodology
The case study method is adopted. The authors draw on recent extension to institutional theory that gives greater emphasis to agency including concepts such as embeddedness, institutional entrepreneurs and institutional contradiction.
Findings
As part of the consequences of new public management reforms, we illustrate how institutional entrepreneurs de-established an older state-run bureaucratic and engineering-based routine and replaced it with a business- and accounting-based routine. Eventually, new accounting routines were reproduced and taken for granted by telecommunications management and employees.
Research Limitations/implications
As this study is limited to a single case study, no generalisation except to theory can be made. There are implications for privatisation of state sector organisations both locally and internationally.
Originality/value
The paper makes a contribution to elaborating the role of institutional entrepreneurs as agents of change towards privatisation and how accounting was used as a technology of change.
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Richard P. Daisley and Boppana V. Chowdary
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of liquid carbon dioxide (LCO2) on grinding of stainless steel.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of liquid carbon dioxide (LCO2) on grinding of stainless steel.
Design/methodology/approach
A factorial experimental approach was used to compare the LCO2's performance against grinding under dry air and emulsion coolants.
Findings
The experimental results have a great use to practitioners. It was found that under special conditions, LCO2 proves to be an alternative coolant for grinding of temperature sensitive materials. Furthermore, grinding under LCO2 conditions produced the lowest tangential force, while the normal forces were close to the values found under emulsion fluid environment. When compared to grinding under dry conditions, LCO2 coolant was successful in reducing the work piece temperatures. LCO2 and emulsion conditions inhibit work hardening by reducing material deformation at the grinding zone.
Originality/value
The paper shows that sub‐zero temperature coolants have the ability to bring about lower grinding temperatures than what is typically achieved under conventional fluids.
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Yelda Durgun Şahin, Osman Metin Yavuz and Erol Kesiktaş
This study discusses that the necessary criteria and the solution approach taken to resolve the main spatial infection problems with a burn center design should be evaluated…
Abstract
Purpose
This study discusses that the necessary criteria and the solution approach taken to resolve the main spatial infection problems with a burn center design should be evaluated holistically to achieve spatial infection control in a burn center. The burn center design plays an important role in protecting severely burned patients from infection because the microbial flora of the hospital can affect the infection risk. In hospitals, sterilization and disinfection are the basic components of infection prevention; however, the prevention and control of infection for burn patients also requires the design of burn centers that adhere to a specific set of criteria that considers spatial infection control in addition to appropriate burn treatment methods and treatments. In this study, a burn facility converted from a burn unit into a burn center is introduced and the necessary design inputs for the transformation are discussed because there is no holistic study in the literature that delas with all the spaces that should be in a burn center and relations between spaces. This study aims to define the functional relations between each of the units and the spaces that change according to different sterilization demands in the burn center for ensuring spatial infection control. Furthermore, it aims to propose a method for ensuring continuity in the control of spatial infections.
Design/methodology/approach
The burn care and health facilities guidelines are examined within the framework of spatial standards, together with a comprehensive literature review. The design method was based on the spread of microorganisms and the effect of human movement on space and spatial transitions in the burn center, according to all relevant literature reviews. To determine the extent to which the differences in treatment protocols of burn care guidelines were reflected in the space, interviews were conducted with burn facility officials. The plan–do–check–act (PDCA) method is also modeled to ensure the continuity of infection control in the burn center.
Findings
The burn center design findings are classified under three main headings, namely, location of the burn center in the hospital, spatial organization and physical features of the burn center and the air flowing system. The importance of the interactions among the criteria for spatial infection control has been revealed. Due to the physical space characteristics and air flow characteristics that change according to human movement and the way microorganisms spread, it has been seen that designing the air flow and architectural aspects together has an effective role in providing spatial infection control. Accordingly, a functional relation scheme for the center has been suggested. It is also proposed as a model to ensure the continuity of infection control in the burn center.
Practical implications
This research presents spatial measures for infection control in burn centers for practitioners in health-care settings such as designers, engineers, doctors and nurses. The PDCA method also leads to continuity of infection control for hospital management.
Originality/value
This is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to focus on developing the criteria for spatial infection control in burn center. Moreover, the aim is to create a function chart that encompasses the relationships between the units within the burn center design so that infection control can be coordinated spatially.
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