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Article
Publication date: 30 May 2008

Russell Lock, Tim Storer, Natalie Harvey, Conrad Hughes and Ian Sommerville

The purpose of this paper is to provide an observational examination of the recent Scottish elections, within which an e‐counting system was employed to manage the increased…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an observational examination of the recent Scottish elections, within which an e‐counting system was employed to manage the increased complexity of the Scottish electoral system for the first time.

Design/methodology/approach

Observations of an ethnographic nature, supplemented by written documentation used for both training and public consumption during the Scottish election process.

Findings

It was found that the voting system for the Scottish elections had not received sufficient review or testing prior to the election; further that the design choices imposed by the DRS software did not support the actions of its users efficiently enough, or justify confidence in the dependability of the system.

Practical implications

That the deployment of e‐counting systems requires careful consideration; many of the issues raised in this paper are similar to those of the official Scottish Elections Review, to which our team provided input.

Originality/value

The Scottish elections were the first to allow members of the public to register as election observers, accredited by the Electoral Commission. As such, the Scottish elections represented the first large‐scale opportunity to observe such processes for the academic community.

Details

Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6166

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2002

David McGillivray

Looks at the trend in the UK towards workplace health promotion (WHP) and, in particular, with one facet of WHP, namely workplace fitness provision (WFP). Contends that the state…

3941

Abstract

Looks at the trend in the UK towards workplace health promotion (WHP) and, in particular, with one facet of WHP, namely workplace fitness provision (WFP). Contends that the state, organisations and individuals each fail to maximise their benefits from provision. Draws attention to inherent tensions between governmental policy rhetoric and the organisational and individual reality within the workplace. Concludes that WFP currently represents a missed opportunity. Governmental aims for improved public health are misguided given the instrumental approach taken by organisations towards WFP, especially as WFP has tended to reinforce inequalities found in the public leisure sector with regard to user profiles. If there is indirect discrimination in employment because of non‐participation in such initiatives then the achievement of public health objectives, reductions in employee absence rates or the achievement of healthy workforces will remain a pipedream.

Details

Health Education, vol. 102 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-4283

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 30 May 2008

Ah-Lian Kor and Graham Orange

425

Abstract

Details

Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6166

Article
Publication date: 17 August 2020

Lettie Y. Conrad, Christine S. Bruce and Virginia M. Tucker

This paper aims to discuss what it means to consider the information experience of academic information management from a constructivist grounded theory perspective. Using a…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to discuss what it means to consider the information experience of academic information management from a constructivist grounded theory perspective. Using a doctoral study in progress as a case illustration, the authors demonstrate how information experience research applies a wide lens to achieve a holistic view of information management phenomena. By unifying a range of elements, and understanding information and its management to be inseparable from the totality of human experience, an information experience perspective offers a fresh approach to answering today's research questions.

Design/methodology/approach

The case illustration is a constructivist grounded theory study using interactive interviews, an original form of semi-structured qualitative interviews combined with card-sorting exercises (Conrad and Tucker, 2019), to deepen reflections by participants and externalize their information experiences. The constructivist variant of grounded theory offers an inductive, exploratory approach to address the highly contextualized information experiences of student-researchers in managing academic information.

Findings

Preliminary results are reported in the form of three interpretative categories that outline the key aspects of the information experience for student-researchers. By presenting these initial results, the study demonstrates how the constructivist grounded theory methodology can illuminate multiple truths and bring a focus on interpretive practices to the understanding of information management experiences.

Research limitations/implications

This new approach offers holistic insights into academic information management phenomena as contextual, fluid and informed by meaning-making and adaptive practices. Limitations include the small sample size customary to qualitative research, within one situated perspective on the academic information management experience.

Originality/value

The study demonstrates the theoretical and methodological contributions of the constructivist information experience research to illuminate information management in an academic setting.

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. 72 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 January 2021

Michael Klesel, Frederike Marie Oschinsky, Colin Conrad and Bjoern Niehaves

This study sought to distinguish characteristics of cognitive processes while using information technology. In particular, it identifies similarities and differences between mind…

2584

Abstract

Purpose

This study sought to distinguish characteristics of cognitive processes while using information technology. In particular, it identifies similarities and differences between mind wandering and cognitive absorption in technology-related settings in an effort to develop a deeper understanding of the role that mind wandering plays when using information technology.

Design/methodology/approach

Data was gathered using an online survey including responses from 619 English-speaking adults in 2019. We applied a confirmatory factor analysis and used a robust variant of maximum likelihood estimator with robust standard errors and a Satorra–Bentler scaled test statistic. The data analysis procedure was conducted with the R environment using the psych package for descriptive analysis, and lavaan to investigate the factorial structure and the underlying correlations.

Findings

We discuss the benefits of carefully differentiating between cognitive processes in Information Systems research and depict avenues how future research can address current shortcomings with a careful investigation of neurophysiological antecedents.

Originality/value

To date, mind wandering has been explored as a single phenomenon, though research in reference disciplines has begun to distinguish varieties and how they distinctly impact behavior. We demonstrate that this distinction is also important for our discipline by showing how two specific types of mind wandering (i.e. deliberate and spontaneous mind wandering) are differently correlated with sub-dimensions of cognitive absorption, a well-studied construct.

Details

Internet Research, vol. 31 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 April 2017

Joseph Phiri

The purpose of this paper is to explore stakeholder expectations of performance within public healthcare services from a less-developed economic context – Zambia in this case. The…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore stakeholder expectations of performance within public healthcare services from a less-developed economic context – Zambia in this case. The study emerges from extant literature indicating potential variations in stakeholder conceptions and expectations of performance within public services.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on institutional and structuration theories to investigate cross-sectional stakeholder expectations of performance together with power relations embedded within public healthcare performance expectations. Empirical data are drawn from semi-structured interviews with 33 stakeholders including legislators, policymakers, regulators of health services, healthcare professionals and health facility managers.

Findings

The findings not only reiterate the constructed and multi-dimensional nature of performance but also highlight the hierarchical configuration of stakeholder expectations linking macro-level health outcomes with micro facility-level service delivery processes.

Practical implications

The study points towards the need of harmonising the national performance measurement (PM) framework to ensure that macro-level goals are suitably cascaded and translated into micro-level service delivery processes through bottom-up structuration linkages.

Originality/value

In addition to filling the gap of explicating public healthcare PM practices in a less-developed economic context, the paper integrates insights from institutional and structuration theories to depict stakeholder expectations of performance through a multi-level and hierarchical framework.

Article
Publication date: 18 August 2020

James Xolani Nyawera and Theodore Conrad Haupt

This paper aims to report on the development of a model to improve process health and safety within the context of a petrochemical environment to achieve a generative health and…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to report on the development of a model to improve process health and safety within the context of a petrochemical environment to achieve a generative health and safety culture within that sector.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative research methodology and deductive research approach were used in the study. A survey was conducted in a major petrochemical enterprise in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa with 259 returned and duly completed questionnaires. The data was statistically analysed using statistical packages for social science version 25.

Findings

This study found that the key process health and safety critical drivers needed to grow a generative process health and safety culture were leadership commitment, chemical exposure management, health and safety risk assessment, process hazard analysis and permit to work.

Research limitations/implications

This study was conducted in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa within the petrochemical industry. Because of self-reported methods of data collection, there is a probability of bias existing in the results of the study.

Practical implications

The contribution of this research is to understand, based on theoretical assumptions, how health and safety improvement could be institutionalised in an organisation. The developed model can be used as a practical tool.

Social implications

This paper is part of the larger discussion of increasing importance in health and safety policy-making. This study aims at contributing to the literature in the field of health and safety by incorporating the drivers towards a generative process health and safety culture.

Originality/value

This study provides a model to assist senior management to reduce exposure to process health and safety hazards in the petrochemical industry and improve overall performance.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. 19 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2020

Shang Gao, Sui Pheng Low and Sarah Xin Xuan Lee

Due to the fragmented and complex nature of the construction industry, many countries, including Singapore, have progressively encouraged greater collaboration amongst major…

Abstract

Purpose

Due to the fragmented and complex nature of the construction industry, many countries, including Singapore, have progressively encouraged greater collaboration amongst major stakeholders in the industry. It is hoped that doing so will result in an increase in the quality of construction projects. Given the long duration of typical construction projects, it is plausible for collaborating parties to develop close and personal relationships. In recent years, corruption cases arising from familiar collaboration have caught the public's attention. This study seeks to better understand familiar collaboration and its adverse impacts on the quality of construction projects.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed research method was adopted, with a questionnaire survey distributed to 32 respondents representing client and contractors. This was followed by interviews to validate the survey findings.

Findings

The findings suggest that, when there is a lack of surveillance, familiar collaboration is likely to lead to favouritism and dishonesty, which can have an adverse impact on the quality of construction projects. The findings additionally suggest that value for money, conformance to specifications and fitness for purpose are the main aspects of quality that are likely to be adversely affected by corrupt practices bought about by familiar collaboration.

Originality/value

In this paper, these relationships are described using the term familiar collaboration. Strong and intimate relationships of this type may lead to a danger of parties committing corrupt practices. This study is one of the very attempts seek to better understand familiar collaboration and its adverse impacts on the quality of construction projects.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 33 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 March 2022

Arturo Molina-Collado, María Leticia Santos-Vijande, Mar Gómez-Rico and Juan M. Madera

The purpose of this study is to examine the scientific research related to sustainability in hospitality and tourism from 1994 to 2020 by conducting bibliometric and science…

2831

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the scientific research related to sustainability in hospitality and tourism from 1994 to 2020 by conducting bibliometric and science mapping analyses and to discuss the implications for prospective research opportunities.

Design/methodology/approach

Keyword co-occurrences with 2,980 published papers collected from the Web of Science (Social Science Citation Index and Emerging Sources Citation Index) were used for the bibliometric-based analysis. The authors use SciMAT software which offers relevant outputs, such as research themes and graphical outputs (strategic diagrams, cluster networks and science mapping representing the temporal evolution of the themes).

Findings

The findings show that biodiversity conservation, sustainable attitudes, climate change, protected areas, satisfaction and environmental management were the focal motor-themes in the studied periods. Additionally, four areas for future investigation are identified and discussed: sustainable behavior and environmental sustainability; consumption, demand and economic growth; tourism development and strategies; and rural tourism, poverty, ethics and education.

Research limitations/implications

This analysis shows insightful results processing a high number of published documents. However, the authors recommend further research focused on qualitative literature review for each critical topic.

Originality/value

The authors are unaware of analogous, completed and recent work about sustainability in hospitality and tourism. The authors believe this article is of great value to academics and practitioners because it synthesizes and disseminates the research topic while providing an outstanding basis for identifying research opportunities.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 34 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2003

Conrad C. Szymczak and Derek H.T. Walker

This paper helps explain the impact and potential for companies to better leverage knowledge and organisational learning from their portfolio of projects. It offers a model based…

10556

Abstract

This paper helps explain the impact and potential for companies to better leverage knowledge and organisational learning from their portfolio of projects. It offers a model based on analysis of the development of the Boeing Company and from change management theory of a way to achieve an enterprise project management culture through organisational learning. The paper provides insight into and a rationale for improvement of project management practice for organisations that currently possess the ability to intelligently use knowledge gained from many projects to service their stakeholders. This ability provides the feedstock for organisational reinvention that can be a survival mechanism in reacting to changed circumstances as well as providing a proactive mechanism for developing new markets. In doing so, the paper draws attention to both the requisite enterprise knowledge management infrastructure and the required organisational culture that supports commitment and enthusiasm.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Keywords

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