Search results

Knowledge management (KM) has emerged in recent times as a phenomenon with wide‐ranging implications for organizational innovation and competitiveness. Supporters argue that as organizations understand the value of KM, they have the opportunity to establish long‐term internal strengths, which will lead to external competitive advantage. Further, we find the current literature advocates that KM can be implemented in every organizational discipline. KM is approached from several different perspectives, and a number of these are used to structure our paper and identify emerging factors in: strategy, human resources management (HRM), information technology (IT), total quality management (TQM), and marketing. This paper presents a summary of key responses to a recent survey of FTSE 100 companies conducted by the authors, which shows that KM is an extremely popular management topic, yet relatively few organizations have serious implementation programs in place. Also presented are findings from longitudinal studies of six case organizations, which have been approaching and deploying KM over the last three years. The academic arguments for organizations to be proactive in KM are strong and compelling. Our research identifies the critical factors that respondents feel are vital for successful KM implementation, and these provide a basis for a further stage of the study which considers how best to develop appropriate performance measurements.

This paper describes the findings of a case study undertaken to investigate the status of total quality management in a UK higher education institution (HEI) using the self‐assessment methodology developed by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM). The case study strategy involved six schools within the same HEI. Provides evidence to encourage implementation of staff development strategies which provide education and training to deans, assistant deans and all personnel involved in quality and performance improvement on the effective use of the EFQM model and the integration of the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency model with the EFQM model. The need to critically evaluate emerging models for quality and performance improvement prior to selection and implementation is emphasized. This study identifies a comparison of the EFQM methodology with the educational criteria for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award as a key area for further research.

This paper aims to investigate the role that deep emotional feelings play in relation to process/service re-design and process/service improvement. It suggests that attention to these dimensions may be vital for successful and sustainable outcomes. It investigates whether these dimensions are accommodated within popular change methods such as the European business excellence model (EBEM) and the balanced scorecard (BS).

An emotional value (EMVAL) scale is tested and applied using survey methods on a large sample of staff engaged in change and improvement initiatives. For the purposes of comparison, two separate business units are selected; one unit following EBEM/BS methods; one unit following EMVAL.

The findings show that significant improvement in employee perceptions of successful outcomes occurs when applying EMVAL methods. There is also evidence of tangible performance improvement in the form of customer satisfaction, reduced cost, and efficiency gains.

The findings are significant for academics and practitioners concerned with quality improvement programmes, suggesting that emotional scaling methods can improve outcomes. An emotional scaling method is presented along with a methodology for implementation.

Whilst the role of understanding deeper emotions in customer relationships is becoming more prominent within the marketing literature, little research to date has explored quality and internal marketing aspects which this paper seeks to address.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate service improvement initiatives within a major UK bank, and assess issues which may have contributed to the current financial crisis.

Primary research includes a survey of bank staff and longitudinal on site interviews and observations over a period of five years.

It is found that service improvement initiatives have focused on the use of popular business models, SERVQUAL, balanced scorecard, and European Business Excellence Model (latterly with elements of Lean). Results show that participant perceptions towards these models are generally negative, with a high incidence of failure to achieve expected results and negative organisational consequences. The paper examines the reasons for this and assesses alternative approaches now being piloted.

The results are case specific and may therefore not be generalised. The findings however present some rich insights into issues arising in service improvement, and on the critical factors for success and causes of failure.

The findings are important for academics, adding some much needed empirical work in this area, and also for practitioners from the services sector and financial services in particular.

The paper will be of interest to academics and practitioners interested in exploring the links between quality and marketing, and the practical implications for service improvement programmes.

Presents the results of a study undertaken to investigate the status of benchmarking within the UK. Results from primary research show that some very successful projects have been undertaken, and that levels of interest among practitioners is high. Presents evidence of the impact of benchmarking projects on performance improvement, and identifies the critical factors for transfer of best practices between organizations. Results also reveal, however, that benchmarking may not be so well established as has been suggested within the literature. Presents evidence to show current trends, which reveal that many projects are narrowly focused, may be wrongly selected, and may miss vital opportunities for improvement. Identifies four areas for future discussion and research. These consider the important areas of the link between benchmarking and the strategic planning process, the development of customer benchmarking methods, the critical factors for transferring best practices across organizations, and the adaptation to post‐modern attitudes to benchmarking.

To deepen the understanding and to encourage further research on leadership best practices for sustaining quality improvement in UK higher education institutions (HEIs).

The literature on leadership provides the theoretical context for the survey of quality managers from 42 UK HEIs. A mix of questionnaires, interviews, and hypothesis testing, was used to explore the critical factors for effective leadership and to obtain descriptive accounts of leadership best practices, which led to the development of a conceptual framework for effective leadership for academic quality.

Identifies and categorizes leadership practices into “weak”, “good”, “best”, and “excellent” on the basis of efficiency and effectiveness of each practice in sustaining academic quality improvement. It provides a conceptual framework for improving “weak” leadership practices.

The exact nature of the association between “effective leadership” and sustainable “levels of academic quality improvement” has not been explained. This requires further research. International generalization of the findings would require the sample size of 42 UK HEIs to be extended to include institutions from other countries with similar education systems – such as the USA and Australia.

Academic quality planners will become more aware of the need to improve the tasks and activities constituting leadership processes. The emphasis on a structured approach to self‐assessment of leadership performance has the potential to reverse the ranking of leadership second to processes in UK HEIs.

It provides explicit definitions of “weak”, “good”, “best” and “excellent” leadership practices, which UK HEIs adopting the excellence model developed by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) may find useful in the assessment and improvement of leadership performance towards academic excellence.

INTRODUCTION With the increasing importance of capital investment selection in modern business the field has attracted a large body of interest in the literature of the last two decades. It is the purpose of the survey to trace this development from the use of simple financial criteria for assessing investments to the use of more sophisticated financial measures, techniques for assessing risk in investments and finally complex models for selecting portfolios of investments.

The purpose of this paper is to increase awareness of the critical role of “managerial leadership” in total quality management (TQM) implementation in UK higher education institutions (HEIs), and to encourage further research on how to sustain management and leadership best practices for total quality improvement in higher education.

A critical review of the literature on managerial leadership provides the theoretical scope which led to the setting of research objectives. The objectives were achieved through a survey of academics and non‐academics responsible for teaching and research quality improvement in a sample of 42 UK HEIs between the period 2000 and 2005. A mix of questionnaires, interviews, inductive analysis and hypothesis testing, was used to explore, describe and to explain the nature of the relationship between the degrees of efficiency and effectiveness of quality management practices in the participating UK HEIs.

The analysis of the survey results revealed “weak” associations between the degrees of efficiency and effectiveness in the quality management practices adopted by participating UK HEIs. It provides examples of weak quality management practices as empirical evidence of “weak” association between “management efficiency” and “leadership effectiveness” in UK HEIs.

International generalization of findings requires the sample size to be increased to include more HEIs from the UK and other countries with similar educational systems. Further quantitative research is needed to provide in depth explanation of the nature of the functional relationship between the degrees of effectiveness and efficiency of quality management practices in higher educational settings.

Understanding the nature of the association between the degrees of effectiveness and efficiency of quality management practices would provide a conceptual framework which would enable academics and practitioners to reflect critically on the “efficiency” and “effectiveness” of teaching and research quality improvement decisions and actions to ensure successful implementation of TQM best practices.

Uses the degrees of efficiency and effectiveness as criteria for evaluating managerial leadership in UK higher education, and recommends strengthening of the association between the criteria through continuous improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of teaching and research quality improvement practices.

The purpose of this viewpoint paper is to question the widely adopted tacit-explicit distinction of knowledge, arguing that this is based on a misappraisal of the original source of the “tacit” phenomenon.

It is argued that Michael Polanyi’s theory of personal knowledge and philosophical grounds have been misinterpreted. The tacit problem is approached from three different directions: knowledge management, cognitive psychology and discursive psychology. The first offers an imperative to regard the tacit as vital to organizational success and an underplayed “implicit” perspective on the tacit. The second offers empirical evidence for the formulation of the tacit as acquired automatically and unconsciously through implicit learning and as influencing action. The last offers a theory and methodology for studying what is argued as being the primary site of knowledge work – discourse.

A novel aspect of the tacit – “tacit knowing” – is shown to be action-orientated and influential, and while it is a hidden aspect of a person’s knowledge, it can be revealed through the study and analysis of discourse.

This is the first known paper in the extant literature to examine the tacit knowledge challenge from these combined directions. Implications for practice and study are discussed, and new directions for research proposed.