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1 – 10 of over 4000The aim of this paper is to examine health care organizations' power structures from the first‐line management perspective. What liable power structures derive from the…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to examine health care organizations' power structures from the first‐line management perspective. What liable power structures derive from the theoretical bases of bureaucratic, professional and result based organizations, and what power type do health care organizations represent, according to the empirical data? The paper seeks to perform an analysis using Mintzberg's power configurations of instrument, closed system, meritocracy and political arena.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical study was executed at the end of 2005 through a survey in ten Finnish hospital districts in both specialized and primary care. Respondents were all first‐line managers in the area and a sample of staff members from internal disease, surgical and psychiatric units, as well as out‐patient and primary care units. The number of respondents was 1,197 and the response percentage was 38. The data were analyzed statistically.
Findings
As a result, it can be seen that a certain kind of organization structure supports the generation of a certain power type. A bureaucratic organization generates an instrument or closed system organization, a professional organization generates meritocracy and also political arena, and a result‐based organization has a connection to political arena and meritocracy. First line managers regarded health care organizations as instruments when staff regarded them mainly as meritocracies having features of political arena. Managers felt their position to be limited by rules, whereas staff members regarded their position as having lots of space and influence potential.
Practical implications
If the organizations seek innovative and active managers at the unit level, they should change the organizational structure and redistribute the work so that there could be more space for meaningful management.
Originality/value
This research adds to the literature and gives helpful suggestions that will be of interest to those in the position of first‐line management in health care.
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This study emphasises the importance of employee participation in total productive maintenance and identifies the key factors influencing employee participation. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This study emphasises the importance of employee participation in total productive maintenance and identifies the key factors influencing employee participation. The Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) framework is adopted to identify and categorise key factors.
Design/methodology/approach
An embedded case study with a power plant service provider in England was conducted with a variety of research methods, for example interviews and questionnaire surveys, to gain a wide range of data.
Findings
Following the MOA framework, this study shows various key aspects of employees' motivation, opportunity and ability when participating in total productive maintenance. It also compares first-line machine operators and maintenance specialists in terms of the drivers and barriers to total productive maintenance for them, and reveals that they need different mechanical skills in order to participate in total productive maintenance.
Originality/value
The study extends the applications of the MOA framework to total productive maintenance initiatives and provides managers with guidance on how to correctly consider and prioritise employee participation in their implementation. Moreover, this is the first study to identify differences between first-line machine operators and maintenance specialists, in terms of their willingness to participate in total productive maintenance.
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Therese Kahm and Pernilla Ingelsson
The purpose of this paper is to present the results from a study that investigates first-line healthcare managers’ views on their role and the conditions that influence their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the results from a study that investigates first-line healthcare managers’ views on their role and the conditions that influence their ability to drive improvement work based on Lean.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was sent to all first-line managers in a healthcare organization to investigate their views on their role, conditions and ability to create change according to Lean. The results from four of the questions are presented, which focus on how crucial they consider their role to be for managing improvement work based on Lean, what work tasks their time is spent on, what factors they consider to be important to their ability to drive change and what factors best describe what Lean provides.
Findings
The results show that first-line managers claim that their role is crucial in improvement work, but when they defined their work tasks, the time spent on improvements was not frequently described. Time, support from coworkers, and a clear vision and clear goals were the three factors that they considered to be most important to their ability to drive improvement work. Considering their leadership, Lean contributed to the structure with tools and supportive methods.
Originality/value
The questions can be used separately or as part of the entire questionnaire before and along a Lean process to obtain a better understanding of how to create a sustainable Lean approach in healthcare. Understanding the factors that first-line managers consider supporting their ability in improvement work and what they consider Lean provides is important in creating a development force in Swedish healthcare.
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Therese Kahm and Pernilla Ingelsson
The purpose of this paper is to present the supportive conditions that the first-line health-care managers claim that they need from their own managers and what they experience as…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the supportive conditions that the first-line health-care managers claim that they need from their own managers and what they experience as their own roles and responsibilities in relation to their coworkers when applying Lean principles and practices.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey with a Web-based questionnaire was designed and used in a Swedish health-care organization two years after the initiation of Lean to investigate the managers’ views on their role, conditions and ability to create change according to Lean. The result from two of the questions will be presented where one focuses on the relationship to the first-line managers’ own manager and the second on the relationship to their coworkers.
Findings
The results show that to initiate improvement, work based on Lean first-line managers ask for own managers who are assured about Lean, include them in discussions and ask for follow-ups and results about Lean. Concerning first-line managers’ relation to their coworkers they experience themselves as responsible for leading toward creating a culture where problems and mistakes are viewed as possibilities to improve, for encouraging that new work procedures are tested and for creating commitment and inspiration in relation to their coworkers.
Originality/value
The questions can be used separately or as part of an entire questionnaire before and along the Lean process to highlight organizational issues such as shared responsibility and supportive relations when developing health care.
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Petra Nilsson and Kerstin Blomqvist
The purpose of this paper is to explore how healthcare first-line managers think about and act regarding workplace survey processes.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how healthcare first-line managers think about and act regarding workplace survey processes.
Design/methodology/approach
This interview study was performed at a hospital in south Sweden. First-line healthcare managers (n=24) volunteered. The analysis was inspired by phenomenography, which aims to describe the ways in which different people experience a phenomenon. The phenomenon was a workplace health promotion (WHP) survey processes.
Findings
Four main WHP survey process approaches were identified among the managers: as a possibility, as a competition, as a work task among others and as an imposition. For each, three common subcategories emerged; how managers: stated challenges and support from hospital management; described their own work group and collaboration with other managers; and expressed themselves and their situation in their roles as first-line managers.
Practical implications
Insights into how hospital management can understand their first-line managers’ motivation for survey processes and practical suggestions and how managers can work proactively at organizational, group and individual level are presented.
Originality/value
Usually these studies focus on those who should respond to a survey; not those who should run the survey process. Focusing on managers and not co-workers can lead to more committed and empowered managers and thereby success in survey processes.
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Explores strategic and first‐line managers' perspectives on their role in human‐resource management and human‐resource development.
Abstract
Purpose
Explores strategic and first‐line managers' perspectives on their role in human‐resource management and human‐resource development.
Design/methodology/approach
Uses information collected from 76 hotels, owned by Hilton UK, via self‐administered questionnaires to strategic and first‐line managers.
Findings
Reveals that a higher proportion of strategic managers than first‐line managers reported involvement in HR activities, despite the operational and teamwork emphasis of first‐line managers' jobs in particular. The personal level of responsibility for team members and responsibility for HR in teams is perceived to be higher among the strategic‐manager respondents than first‐line respondents. Only the strategic managers considered that HRD is viewed as important. The strategic managers rated their working relationships with HR specialists in their hotels higher than the first‐line managers did. A large majority of first‐line managers saw heavy workloads and short‐term job pressures as hindrances to involvement in HR roles.
Practical implications
Contends that there is potential for first‐line managers in Hilton's UK hotels to engage more in the HR activities that underpin the company's service culture.
Originality/value
Highlights the importance of ensuring that HR is seen as a critical component of all hospitality‐management education programs.
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Peter Gilmour and Russell Lansbury
For management development activities to be successful at the supervisory level, they must take note of the effects of organisational characteristics such as task structures…
Abstract
For management development activities to be successful at the supervisory level, they must take note of the effects of organisational characteristics such as task structures, control systems and the allocation of authority. These needs are often neglected. A long‐term study of over 1,200 first‐line managers in Australia has shown that essentially two types of managers exist: “managerial” and “supervisory”. The former are younger, better educated and aspire to future careers in middle and higher management. The latter group are older, less formally educated and have spent most of their life on the factory floor. The “managerial” group are more technically qualified but lack experience and confidence in dealing with others. The “supervisory” group tend to highlight difficulties in dealing with rapid technological change and its effect on their role. Each group requires training and development which will complement their strengths and help overcome weaknesses.
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Ian Pepper, Colin Rogers and James Turner
First-line leaders across the emergency services are instrumental in leading the development of a workforce fit to face current and future challenges. As such in addition to…
Abstract
Purpose
First-line leaders across the emergency services are instrumental in leading the development of a workforce fit to face current and future challenges. As such in addition to utilising their specific craft, leaders need to be equipped to understand and apply evidence-based practices. With a focus on first-line leadership in policing, this paper will have both national and international resonance for those organisations attempting to embed an evidence-based culture.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper utilises a review of literature to develop a viewpoint identifying challenges and benefits of the adoption of evidence-based policing (EBP) by first-line leaders.
Findings
First-line leaders, whether police officers, police staff or volunteers, require opportunities to develop their own knowledge, understanding and skills of applying EBP in the workplace. Acknowledging challenges exist in the widespread adoption of EBP, such learning, at the appropriate educational level, will enable leaders to effectively champion the adoption of EBP, informing both their own decision-making and professional practices as well as those across their teams.
Practical implications
The first-line leader role is highly influential, as such, it is essential that these leaders develop their knowledge, understanding and application of EBP in the workplace in order to lead the expected cultural change.
Originality/value
This paper provides a current framework for the understanding of the context and potential impact of educationally levelled formal leadership learning required to champion the broad adoption of EBP across policing.
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Sandra Watson, Gillian A. Maxwell and Lois Farquharson
The purpose of this paper is to explore different levels of line manager perspectives, namely strategic and first‐line on their role in human resource management (HRM) and human…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore different levels of line manager perspectives, namely strategic and first‐line on their role in human resource management (HRM) and human resource development (HRD), and to identify enablers of and barriers to devolving HR to line managers.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a deductive approach, case study data was collected from 76 hotels, owned by Hilton UK, via self‐administered questionnaires to strategic and first‐line managers. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the quantitative results, prior to significance tests being conducted in SPSS to identify differences in means based on managerial positions.
Findings
A number of points of divergence in opinions are revealed, implying that there is potential for the case organisation to secure greater engagement of its first‐line managers in HR roles. Reducing the workloads and short‐term job pressures of these managers, together with capitalising on the good relations with the hotel HR specialists are means to develop greater engagement. Importantly, improving all line managers’ understanding of the organisational basis of their involvement in HR may bolster their performance in HR activities.
Originality/value
This paper offers a fusion of two theoretical perspectives (HRM and HRD), in addition to identifying differences in perceptions of two different levels of line managers.
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Joseph A. Schafer and Thomas J. Martinelli
The purpose of this paper is to examine supervisor perceptions of police integrity situations using the measurement of police integrity instrument. Additional survey questions…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine supervisor perceptions of police integrity situations using the measurement of police integrity instrument. Additional survey questions focused on aspects of integrity of particular relevance within the study agency. The latter concerned that agency's on‐going legal arrangement with the federal government to address alleged sub‐standard patterns and practices of officer/agency performance.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 478 sergeants and lieutenants from the study agency completed the survey instrument. This represented 97 percent of those asked to complete the instrument and approximately 60 percent of first‐line supervisors.
Findings
The results paralleled some aspects found in prior research, in particular that respondents cast themselves as having stronger integrity than their peers. Findings also illustrated potential weaknesses in efforts to enhance police integrity in light of federal intervention in the study agency.
Research limitations/implications
The findings represented the first focused effort to replicate the measurement of police integrity instrument among first‐line supervisors. Such personnel were key figures in efforts to modify deficient patterns and practices, making them a prime focus for research consideration.
Practical implications
The skepticisms expressed by some supervisors illustrated issues worthy of consideration in future efforts to enhance integrity in police organizations. First‐line supervisors play key roles in shaping officer conduct, particularly in larger agencies. As such, more consideration needs to be given to the role they play in organizational change efforts.
Originality/value
In addition to informing scholarly understanding through the measurement of police integrity instrument, the findings are of importance in applied efforts to enhance integrity or otherwise modify police organizations.
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