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1 – 10 of over 17000Karin Dangermond, Ricardo Weewer, Joachim Duyndam and Anja Machielse
How firefighters cope with critical incidents is partly influenced by the culture of the fire brigade. The purpose of this study is to better understand how informal peer support…
Abstract
Purpose
How firefighters cope with critical incidents is partly influenced by the culture of the fire brigade. The purpose of this study is to better understand how informal peer support helps firefighters cope with critical incidents.
Design/methodology/approach
An ethnographic field study of explorative nature was conducted. Data were collected by means of 20 participating observations and 72 interviews with Dutch firefighters from 37 different fire brigades. The analysis was an iterative process alternating data collection, analysis and theory formation processes.
Findings
Firefighters will turn to informal peer support to cope with critical incidents provided that facilitating circumstances are present and there is adherence to certain implicit rules. The collective sharing of memories, whether immediately post-incident or after the passage of time, helps firefighters process critical incidents and serves to promote unit cohesion. Most firefighters reported these informal debriefings to be preferable to the formal sessions. By comparison, a minority of firefighters reported that they did not benefit at all from the informal interactions.
Research limitations/implications
This study only focused on the informal peer support given by colleagues. Future research should focus on: (1) The possible differences between men and women as to what extent informal peer support is experienced after critical incidents, (2) Commanding officers: how do they, given their hierarchical position, experience coming to terms with critical incidents, (3) Premeditated critical incidents and the role of informal peer support, (4) Similarities and differences between career and non-career firefighters in experiencing and coping critical incidents.
Practical implications
Firefighters are an under-researched group in academic literature, that would benefit from mental health counsellors having a better understanding of their unique work culture and the complexity of the firefighting profession. More knowledge about the role of informal peer support is necessary to tailor help and aftercare more effectively to their needs.
Originality/value
Most studies confirm the importance of informal peer support when coping with critical incidents. This study provides initial, in-depth evidence of the role of informal peer support in helping firefighters cope with critical incidents.
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Carmen Padin, Göran Svensson, Carmen Otero-Neira and Nils Høgevold
The objective of this paper is to describe the teleological actions needed to assess and manage critical incidents that cause negative emotions in service encounters. Teleological…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this paper is to describe the teleological actions needed to assess and manage critical incidents that cause negative emotions in service encounters. Teleological actions are movements into the future that are believed to be move either towards a predictable/known or unpredictable/unknown state or condition. The authors distinguish between, define and apply three categories: transformative – ad hoc and present-based actions; formative – pre-determined and past-based actions; and rationalist – goal-directed and future-based actions.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study, based upon a two-phase approach applying convenience and judgemental sampling, was used. Focussing on one teleological theory, a process of abductive matching was applied throughout the study. Abductive matching refers to recurring themes, patterns and categories that are uncovered through the iterative processes of analysis. The teleological framework structured and guided the data collection and empirical observations.
Findings
Seen through the perspective of teleological actions, the study enhances our understanding of the manner in which critical incidents generate negative emotions in service encounters. Through the same perspective, the investigation also reveals that the outcome of a negative service encounter depends upon the interactive interface between service provider and service receiver.
Research limitations/implications
The teleological actions between service providers and service receivers in negative service encounters appear to be mediators between cause-and-effect on the one hand (critical incident and negative emotions) and a perceptual gap on the other (outcome of negative service encounter). The teleological perspective also provides numerous opportunities for further research in this area.
Practical implications
Managers should strive to understand the teleological actions potentially undertaken by service receivers, so that they can deal with the teleological actions of their front-line staff accordingly. The interactive interface between a service provider and a service receiver is crucial in assessing and managing critical incidents.
Originality/value
Based on teleological actions, the investigation provides both a valuable and complementary contribution on assessing and managing critical incidents and the negative emotions that are often triggered in the service-encounter interface between a service provider and a service receiver. Providers also need to educate their staff on what can occur and on how to react appropriately.
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Ina Garnefeld and Lena Steinhoff
Customer satisfaction formation represents a dynamic phenomenon, especially in extended service encounters. A single service encounter may have an extended duration and feature…
Abstract
Purpose
Customer satisfaction formation represents a dynamic phenomenon, especially in extended service encounters. A single service encounter may have an extended duration and feature several service interactions, which the customer can evaluate independently. This paper aims to offer a dynamic perspective on satisfaction formation, which indicates that what matters is not only the interactions a customer confronts but also when these interactions occur.
Design/methodology/approach
Research from social psychology provides a foundation for hypothesizing different effects of positive and negative critical incidents. Negative critical incidents likely are more important for overall satisfaction if they occur at the end of a service encounter. Positive critical incidents should have stronger effects at the beginning. In a 2×2 experimental design, participants considered a five‐day holiday hotel experience.
Findings
The data support the predicted dominance of a recency effect for negative critical incidents, such that a negative critical incident has a greater negative impact on customers' overall satisfaction when it occurs at the end of a service encounter instead of at the beginning. For positive critical incidents, no significant differences arose between primacy and recency effects.
Practical implications
The results highlight the importance of process designs of service experiences. Managers should pay particular attention to avoiding service failures at the end of a service encounter.
Originality/value
Unlike research that only assesses satisfaction formation for service encounters from a non‐dynamic perspective, this study posits the importance of the order of interactions within a service encounter.
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Bo Edvardsson and Tore Strandvik
Focuses on the criticality of critical incidents in customer relationships. Aims to discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the notion of “critical” in a critical…
Abstract
Focuses on the criticality of critical incidents in customer relationships. Aims to discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the notion of “critical” in a critical incident. Why is something perceived as critical? What does it lead to? Is criticality a feature built into the service or is it a contextually‐defined phenomenon, depending both on the customer, the service provider, the interaction and the surrounding relationship environment? Suggests a contextual framework for describing, analysing and understanding critical incidents, based on the idea that critical incidents are always embedded in customer relationships. Two interdependent context dimensions are used: the time dimension, and the situational dimension. These elements, combined, lead to a focus on customer‐perceived and relationship‐oriented contexts, which reveal new insights into the role of critical incidents. This framework is used in an empirical study concerning business customers’ perceptions of “critical incidents” in their relationship with a hotel. The findings indicate that the majority of positive and negative critical incidents reported had only a minor impact on customer behavior.
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The traditional critical incident technique (CIT) and variants of the same have frequently been applied in service research for several decades. The technique has often been used…
Abstract
The traditional critical incident technique (CIT) and variants of the same have frequently been applied in service research for several decades. The technique has often been used to capture data on and analyse both negative and positive critical incidents. While one technique displays hosts of critical incidents in benchmark‐type series (SIT), another variant describes the dynamism in one discrete critical incident and a third the dynamism of the configuration of critical incidents (SPAT). In this article the different variants are discussed in relation to psychological theory focusing on the concepts of time, history and memory. To be able to analyse the criticality from the individual customer’s perspective, we argue that one must understand the significance of critical incidents in the light of human memory mechanisms and judgement processes. The discussion forms the basis for suggesting a new, tentative framework for analysing the criticality of critical incidents. We call this criticality critical incident technique (CCIT).
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Inge Wels‐Lips, Marleen van der Ven and Rik Pieters
Analyzing over 800 critical incidents across six service industries this study finds that responsiveness, courtesy/understanding the customer and communication frequently function…
Abstract
Analyzing over 800 critical incidents across six service industries this study finds that responsiveness, courtesy/understanding the customer and communication frequently function as satisfiers driving the occurrence of positive incidents. Lack of competence, credibility and, particularly, reliability function as dissatisfiers driving the occurrence of negative incidents. Two generic dimensions emerge from multiple correspondence analysis: service system versus service people, and customer initiative versus employee initiative. The service system is associated with negative incidents, and service people with positive incidents. Substantial differences between service industries in antecedents of critical incidents emerge. Implications and recommendations for service delivery design and management are offered.
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In line with the slogan “Africa rising”, the paper responds to the calls to shed light on the management knowledge of Africa, especially on the internationalisation of process of…
Abstract
Purpose
In line with the slogan “Africa rising”, the paper responds to the calls to shed light on the management knowledge of Africa, especially on the internationalisation of process of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from Africa. This paper aims to explore the critical incidents that trigger the export initiation of SMEs from the garment and textile sub-sector of Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on the qualitative multi-case study research approach, coupled with the critical incident method and uses 36 case firms from the garment and textile sub-sector of Ghana.
Findings
From the interview transcripts, it was found that being in the receipt of unsolicited order, wining government award and having international orientation are among the critical incidents that catapult SMEs in the garment and textile sub-sector of Ghana to initiate export business.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on the interpretivist qualitative method; therefore, future studies could extend the results by improving the sample size and use statistical methods.
Practical implications
Based on the findings, it is recommended that what is needed to improve export participation of SMEs from Ghana is entrepreneurial orientation. Implicitly, public policy must promote entrepreneurship education, i.e whether the government expects to see improvement in export involvement of SMEs from Ghana. Such initiatives will catapult most entrepreneurs from their comfort zones to take advantage of the various critical incidents in the external business environment and become exporters.
Originality/value
The contribution of the paper is that unlike previous studies that use objective quantitative measures to examine the issue from other settings, the present paper uses the critical incident method which is proven to delve deeper into the phenomenon. Another contribution is that it sheds light on the internationalisation process of manufacturing SMEs from an under-researched and a new geographical context.
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This qualitative study explores the barriers and dilemmas faced by beginning and novice mentors in post-compulsory education in the Southeast of England. It analyses critical…
Abstract
Purpose
This qualitative study explores the barriers and dilemmas faced by beginning and novice mentors in post-compulsory education in the Southeast of England. It analyses critical incidents (Tripp, 2012) taken from the everyday practice of mentors who were supporting new teachers and lecturers in the Southeast of England. It categorises different types of critical incidents that mentors encountered and describes the strategies and rationales mentors used to support mentees and (indirectly) their learners and colleagues. The purpose of this paper is to explore ways in which mentors’ own values, beliefs and life experiences affected their mentoring practice.
Design/methodology/approach
As part of a specialist master’s-level professional development module, 21 mentors wrote about two critical incidents (Tripp, 2012) taken from their own professional experiences, which aimed to demonstrate their support for their mentee’s range of complex needs. These critical incidents were written up as short case studies, which justified the rationale for their interventions and demonstrated the mentors’ own professional development in mentoring. Critical incidents were used as units of analysis and categorised thematically by topic, sector and mentoring strategies used.
Findings
The research demonstrated the complex nature of decision making and the potential for professional learning within a mentoring dyad. The study of these critical incidents found that mentors most frequently cited the controversial nature of teaching observations, the mentor’s role in mediating professional relationships, the importance of inculcating professional dispositions in education and the need to support new teachers so that they can use effective behaviour management strategies.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the understanding of the central importance of mentoring for professional growth within teacher education. It identifies common dilemmas that novice mentors face in post-compulsory education, justifies the rationale for their interventions and mentoring strategies and helps to identify ways in which mentors’ professional development needs can be met. It demonstrates that mentoring is complex, non-linear and mediated by mentors’ motivation and values.
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Ole Andreas Engen, Aslaug Mikkelsen and Kjell Grønhaug
This paper seeks to address how major companies adjust their behaviour and definitions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) when exposed to “critical incidents”.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to address how major companies adjust their behaviour and definitions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) when exposed to “critical incidents”.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative explorative study including two cases from the Norwegian oil and gas industry, both reflecting critical incidents that are included in the present study: the Utkal case of Norsk Hydro and the Iran corruption case of Statoil.
Findings
The critical incidents reported here resulted in changes in decision making and the reformulation of corporate strategies. The findings reported also reveal how the construction of CSR policy and the construction of the reality of the different stakeholders were transferred between companies, NGOs and civil society.
Research limitations/implications
Only a small sample of events and companies is investigated in the study. Accordingly, future research is needed on how legislation and government regulations affect a broader scale of different companies and how complex organisations manage individual and organisational challenges concerning all aspects of CSR.
Practical implications
Assuming that critical incidents influence organisational attention, interpretation and actions, the study indicates that the incidents can be seen as catalysts for the emergence of new CSR policy. New CSR policy is expressed in the patterns of social behaviour. This implies participating in diverse social networks, partnerships and learning forums and that CSR behaviour is constructed in the interaction between company, NGOs, media and business networks.
Originality/value
Similar studies have not previously been undertaken in Norwegian oil companies.
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Karen E. Watkins, Andrea D. Ellinger, Boyung Suh, Joseph C. Brenes-Dawsey and Lisa C. Oliver
The critical incident technique (CIT) is widely used in many disciplines; however, scholars have acknowledged challenges associated with analyzing qualitative data when using this…
Abstract
Purpose
The critical incident technique (CIT) is widely used in many disciplines; however, scholars have acknowledged challenges associated with analyzing qualitative data when using this technique. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to address the data analysis issues that have been raised by introducing some different contemporary ways of analyzing qualitative critical incident data drawn from recent dissertations conducted in the human resource development (HRD) field.
Design/methodology/approach
This article describes and illustrates different contemporary qualitative re-storying and cross-incident analysis approaches with examples drawn from previously and recently conducted qualitative HRD dissertations that have used the CIT.
Findings
Qualitative CIT analysis comprises two processes: re-storying and cross-incident analysis. The narrative inquiry–based re-storying approaches the authors illustrate include poetic narrative and dramatic emplotting. The analytical approaches we illustrate for cross-incident analysis include thematic assertion, grounded theory, and post-structural analysis/assemblages. The use of the aforementioned approaches offers researchers contemporary tools that can deepen meaning and understanding of qualitative CIT data, which address challenges that have been acknowledged regarding the difficulty of analyzing CIT data.
Research limitations/implications
The different contemporary qualitative approaches that we have introduced and illustrated in this study provide researchers using the CIT with additional tools to address the challenges of analyzing qualitative CIT data, specifically with regard to data reduction of lengthy narrative transcripts through re-storying as well as cross-incident analyses that can substantially deepen meaning, as well as build new theory and problematize the data through existing theory.
Practical implications
A strength of the CIT is its focus on actual events that have occurred from which reasoning, behaviors, and decision-making can be examined to develop more informed practices.
Originality/value
The CIT is a very popular and flexible method for collecting data that is widely used in many disciplines. However, data analysis can be especially difficult given the volume of narrative qualitative data that can result from data collection. This paper describes and illustrates different contemporary approaches analyzing qualitative CIT data, specifically the processes of re-storying and cross-incident analysis, to address these concerns in the literature as well as to enhance and further evolve the use of the CIT method.
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