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Article
Publication date: 23 March 2021

Sy Tien Do, Viet Thanh Nguyen and Chau Ngoc Dang

This study aims to discover the impact of failure factors on stakeholder coordination performance (SCP) in the finishing phase of high-rise building projects.

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to discover the impact of failure factors on stakeholder coordination performance (SCP) in the finishing phase of high-rise building projects.

Design/methodology/approach

Firstly, this study identifies potential failure factors affecting coordination performance as well as criteria for measuring SCP in the finishing phase of high-rise building projects. Afterwards, a survey questionnaire is designed to collect data from high-rise building projects in Vietnam. Using the factor analysis method, the study discovers the failure constructs. A structural equation model is then built to uncover the relationships between failure constructs and SCP.

Findings

The study identified four failure constructs which could significantly affect SCP, namely traditional adversarial relationship (TAR), incompetent parties (IP), poor project planning and organization (PPO) and delays of parties toward construction works (DP). The developed model indicated that TAR, PPO and IP significantly affected stakeholders' coordination performance in the finishing phase of high-rise building projects.

Originality/value

The results of the study fill the gap in knowledge by discovering the causal relationships between failure constructs and SCP in high-rise building projects. The results might provide an initial guideline for stakeholders during the finishing phase of high-rise building projects to enhance their coordination performance.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 29 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 December 2020

Jas Kalra, Michael Lewis and Jens K. Roehrich

This paper aims to investigate governance in service triads, specifically studying significant steering and connecting coordination failures, to reveal typically hidden…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate governance in service triads, specifically studying significant steering and connecting coordination failures, to reveal typically hidden characteristics and consequences.

Design/methodology/approach

This study focuses on coordination functions and activities between a buyer (a government department), a customer (a military service) and two service providers. Rich data on these normally confidential service ties are drawn from an official report into the causes of a fatal accident involving a UK reconnaissance aircraft and specifically from the evidence presented regarding the earlier development of its complex safety case. The authors also analysed a range of additional secondary data sources.

Findings

The authors examine the sources, drivers and manifestation of coordination failures. The authors uncover a series of coordination failures driven from the bridge position, revealing that while bounded rationality and opportunism influenced steering coordination failures, connecting coordination failures were associated with knowledge asymmetry, dyadic inertia and unethical practices.

Practical implications

Organisations and governments delivering complex projects and knowledge-intensive professional services should guard against outsourcing the “coordination” activity to a third party, thereby relinquishing the bridge position. Handing over the bridge position to an integrator would leave the client vulnerable to coordination dysfunctions such as bounded rationality, opportunism, knowledge asymmetry, dyadic inertia and unethical practices.

Originality/value

The study links the previously separate research streams of service triads and inter-organizational coordination. While extant research pays attention to mainly positive control functions, this study focuses on all three actors in two (failed) service triads – and highlights the impact of coordination activities and failures.

Article
Publication date: 30 April 2021

James Coviello and David E. DeMatthews

The purpose of this article is to describe and analyze how three principals attempting to establish effective inclusive schools for students with disabilities identified and…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to describe and analyze how three principals attempting to establish effective inclusive schools for students with disabilities identified and learned from failure, with a specific focus on how failure was used to drive school improvement efforts.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study involved interviews and observations during one school year in an urban school district in the southwestern United States. Participants varied in their levels of experience and their perceptions about establishing inclusion in their schools. In addition, each school ranged in the length of time working toward implementing inclusion and the relative success of their reform efforts.

Findings

This study presents insights into several types of failures with a range of causation, from what we term “unnecessary failures,” to “complex coordination failures” and “trial failures.” In response to these failures, the principals in this study attempted to foster a culture of professionalism and trust by creating avenues for relationship-building that would allow teachers and staff to buy into the inclusive mission of the school. Principals also attempted to build school capacity by working to strengthen teams and pre-existing structures and to cultivate teacher-leaders that could improve communication, motivate others and effectively lead meetings that would encourage authentic collaboration.

Originality/value

Analyzing and learning from instances of failure is an important practice, especially for failures that are unexpected, yet much of the literature on leading from failure exists in business management scholarship, with very limited examples in the area of special education and special education school leadership.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 59 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2011

Abbi M. Kedir

Fragile states (FS) are often neglected and categorized as “aid orphans”. In extreme circumstances, they are loaded with aid beyond their absorptive capacity. However, whether…

Abstract

Fragile states (FS) are often neglected and categorized as “aid orphans”. In extreme circumstances, they are loaded with aid beyond their absorptive capacity. However, whether they receive little or too much, there is a compelling imperative to coordinate aid aimed at capacity development effectively. In an ever shrinking pot of funds from donors mainly due to the current global economic downturn, it is extremely important to coordinate and harmonise aid delivery. FS cannot afford to waste any money trapped under rubble of multi‐donor aid bureaucracy. Due to the multidimensional nature of fragility, we draw on case studies and interdisciplinary insights from Authority‐Legitimacy‐Capacity (ALC), Country Development Framework (CDF) and other models and frameworks of donor coordination. A number of asymmetries (e.g. technical, cultural and, financial) between donors and recipients need to be addressed. Donors can harmonise their respective Africa strategies reports and give priority to infrastructure instead of focusing exclusively on the social agenda as in the past. FS should fight the local culture of corruption, avoid fungibility, protect vulnerable groups in society, focus on reintegration as well as demobilizing ex‐combatants with employment provisions. Donors should not give mixed signals to recipients and need to be flexible in their operational procedures. Finally, we discuss the implications of key emerging issues that threaten or facilitate sustainable reconstruction, development and poverty reduction in post‐conflict environments.

Details

World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, vol. 7 no. 2/3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-5961

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 October 2019

Nibedita S. Ray-Bennett and Hideyuki Shiroshita

The purpose of this paper is to theoretically propose a complex perspective as the third way to understand disasters which is used to describe the Hiroshima landslide disaster…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to theoretically propose a complex perspective as the third way to understand disasters which is used to describe the Hiroshima landslide disaster 2014 in Japan. In the first half of the paper the complex perspective is explained in detail with comparison to two conventional perspectives on disasters, i.e. hazard approach and vulnerability approach. According to the complex perspective, deaths in disasters are avoidable. In the second half of the paper, Hiroshima landslide disaster is analyzed in line with the complex perspective. Also, how will Hiroshima not repeat such landslide disaster is suggested.

Design/methodology/approach

To develop the case study for Hiroshima, a desk-based literature review, a field site visit and five key informant interviews were conducted by the authors in 2016. The authors’ initial analysis based on newspaper reports indicated a failure in the early warning system, evacuation and severity of the hazard. Based on this, the broader literature on traditional perspectives on risk, vulnerability and complexity were mined to understand and theorize the failure in Hiroshima. Then the interviews were conducted in the city of Hiroshima to analyze the disaster from complex perspective.

Findings

The authors demonstrated that the Hiroshima Landslide disaster 2014 and its deaths could be explained by complex perspective. Complex perspective brings us the following suggestions not to repeat landslide disaster in Hiroshima. Political leaders at national and local levels must take up responsibilities to set a “goal” for the disaster management system to “reduce deaths.” Also, governmental and non-governmental organizations should make efforts to engage proactively with community through disaster education or through community awareness program to shift the mind set from hito-goto to jibun-no-koto (their story to our story).

Originality/value

Reducing deaths by disasters is essential for the world thus it is UN’s Sendai Goal One. As most contemporary sciences are based on reductionism, disasters have been described as a combination of the related components such as hazards, vulnerability. Although the great contributions from the reductionism to disaster studies, it has been said that integrated disaster management is needed since the reductionism usually give the partially optimized solution to disaster reduction. This study proposes complex approach to find comparatively total optimized solution to disaster reduction, in particular reducing deaths. Although it is based on merely one case study, this paper describes the possibility of different way to reduce deaths by disasters.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 28 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2008

Jennifer Dirmeyer

The paper aims to discuss bureaucratic management, over‐confidence in scientific theory, information distortion and lack of coordination with particular focus on the…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to discuss bureaucratic management, over‐confidence in scientific theory, information distortion and lack of coordination with particular focus on the post‐Hurricane Katrina situation.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines efficiency arguments for centralized control and the potential for government failure. It also analyzes the disaster of Hurricane Katrina with these problems in mind.

Findings

The Flood Act of 1928 officially transferred the responsibility of flood protection along the Mississippi River to the federal government. While it is true that local provision failed to eliminate the problem of flooding, the problems caused by federal provision have not been fully appreciated. The specific characteristics of flood protection as well as the general problems caused by bureaucratic management and the absence of market mechanisms suggest that local provision of flood protection is a more efficient solution.

Originality/value

The arguments in this paper suggest that, the previous belief in centralized flood management was unfounded.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 35 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2022

Miguel Pina Cunha, Stewart Clegg, Arménio Rego, Luca Giustiniano, António Cunha Meneses Abrantes, Anne S. Miner and Ace Volkmann Simpson

The purpose of this paper is to explore how a number of processes joined to create the microlevel strategies and procedures that resulted in the most lethal and tragic forest fire…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how a number of processes joined to create the microlevel strategies and procedures that resulted in the most lethal and tragic forest fire in Portugal's history, recalled as the EN236-1 road tragedy in the fire of Pedrógão Grande.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an inductive theory development approach, the authors consider how the urgency and scale of perceived danger coupled with failures of system-wide communication led fire teams to improvise repeatedly.

Findings

The paper shows how structure collapse led teams to use only local information prompting acts of improvisational myopia, in the particular shape of corrosive myopia, and how a form of incidental improvisation led to catastrophic results.

Practical implications

The research offers insights into the dangers of improvisation arising from corrosive myopia, identifying ways to minimize them with the development of improvisation practices that allow for the creation of new patterns of action. The implications for managing surprise through improvisation extend to risk contexts beyond wildfires.

Originality/value

The paper stands out for showing the impact of improvisational myopia, especially in its corrosive form, which stands in stark contrast to the central role of attention to the local context highlighted in previous research on improvisation. At the same time, by exploring the effects of incidental improvisation, it also departs from the agentic conception of improvisation widely discussed in the improvisation literature.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 60 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 March 2024

Duane Windsor

This study aims to help develop “business principles for stakeholder capitalism” in two steps. First, the study defines internal logic of three theories of capitalism and two…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to help develop “business principles for stakeholder capitalism” in two steps. First, the study defines internal logic of three theories of capitalism and two variants within each theory. Second, it examines approaches to integration into modern democratic capitalism. Treating the three theories as substitutes identifies relative strengths and weaknesses; complementarity and partial overlap approaches to integration study the institutional settings within which stakeholder capitalism operates. Empirical outcomes reflect competition between market and stakeholder businesses for participants, with institutional conditions determining the scope of collective action.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach aligns three typologies in a unique conceptual arrangement defining the three theories of capitalism: forms of capitalism, potential failures of each form and associated types of goods. The first method examines the internal logic of each theory of capitalism. The second draws on traditional narrative review of references documenting each theory of capitalism and variants together with modern Marxist anti-capitalism.

Findings

Three typologies align uniquely with the theories of capitalism, each having two variants. Both variants of stakeholder capitalism are compatible with compassionate capitalism, constitutional government or polycentric governance but not with self-interest capitalism, dictatorship or Marxism. A theory of modern democratic capitalism allocates roles for private, club and social goods with empirically variable mixes occurring across countries. Competition among different types of enterprises provides an empirical test for comparative advantages of stakeholder capitalism. Future research should consider approaches for testing the proposed conceptual scheme in practice concerning capacity to deal with grand challenges, wicked problems and black swan events.

Research limitations/implications

Research approach is limited to logical examination of theories and literature documentation without direct empirical confirmation. The study does not address practical implications for managers and public officials or social implications concerning private incentives, stakeholder cooperation or collective action.

Originality/value

Originality lies in shifting terms of debate about stakeholder capitalism from advocacy of substitute theories to understanding of its relationship to market capitalism and collective action capitalism. Value lies in explaining desirability of theoretical integration of three types of capitalism into a comprehensive framework for modern democratic capitalism.

Article
Publication date: 7 October 2014

Dominique Foray

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the distinction between smart specialisation and smart specialisation policy and it studies under what conditions a smart specialisation…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the distinction between smart specialisation and smart specialisation policy and it studies under what conditions a smart specialisation policy is necessary.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual framework is built based on historical evidence of successful dynamics of structural changes at regional level qualified as “smart specialisation”. The identification of market and coordination failures that are likely to impede the occurrence of spontaneous process of smart specialisation makes a good case for a smart specialisation policy.

Findings

The paper highlights important design principles for the policy process that should help to minimise potential risks of policy failures and policy capture.

Research limitations/implications

The paper does assess the effect of smart specialisation on innovation and growth at regional level because it is too early to observe and measure effects. The paper confines itself to conjectures about the effects of such a policy.

Practical implications

The paper makes recommendations and explains some of the practicalities about the implementation of the policy at regional level.

Originality/value

The paper is one of the first dealing with the topic of smart specialisation policy.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 17 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 13 August 2021

Davide Secchi

Abstract

Details

Computational Organizational Cognition: A Study on Thinking and Action in Organizations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-512-7

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