Search results

A study of six companies, chosen because of their success in implementing quality, was carried out in order to continue the theme of the quality movement: learning from others. Considers the processes each company went through, looking at the difficulties encountered and the subsequent solutions. Identifies four key factors which contribute to success: forthright, listening leadership; provoking, but not imposing change; integrating quality into the business and learning by doing. Concludes with key points for success in quality.

Few subjects have taken up more space in the past 30 years than those related to the whole question of leadership. What is it? How is it developed? And few subjects are more critical in shaping our future visions and strategies for the new millennium.

Many organizations are investing much time and effort in the management of quality. A few enlightened ones even have a vision to be the best. G. Howland Blackiston, the president of the Juran Institute, noted recently that, “All around the world companies are waking up to ‘quality’. Everyone is touting quality. Many are attempting it. Some organizations have gotten enviable results by using the concepts of ‘managing for quality’ dramatically to lower their costs, increase their profits and become more competitive in an increasingly competitive market. For these winners, quality has become an integral part of their business strategy”.

Asserts that to help convince everyone in the company that quality improvement is worthwhile, a way of linking the improvements with business results is required. Discusses the waning of commitment which often follows the early days of a quality initiative. Contends motivation is improved if the costs of quality are identified and measured on a regular basis, and that it helps if improvement efforts are linked to the needs of business. Asserts that taking a quality approach to business can benefit the bottom‐line. Discusses business models and their use. Concludes it involves examining costs in minute detail, and tracking back the costs to each customer order.

Now that everybody's empowered, it seems like there's no one around to actually do the drudge work. Enter: Strategic use of teams. The problem with teams—left unaddressed by three out of four of these books—is that, while the concept of teamwork is great, the execution is trouble‐some. The only book that tackles real life is Team Think, an instructional book on getting groups to make decisions.

Reports on the production, by the British Standards Institution, of two new standards which are closely linked to the ever‐popular BS 5750. Looks at the standards and sets the scene with an overview of BSI′s plans for the future. Emphasizes that the customer and member is king, also the need to become user‐friendly. Concludes by reporting that the best way forward is to produce a single generic standard which has all the necessary elements and which is supported by specific guidance notes relevant to different people. Asserts that BSI will be the first standards body to do so.

This research explores perceptions of knowledge management processes held by managers and employees in a service industry. To date, empirical research on knowledge management in the service industry is sparse. This research seeks to examine absorptive capacity and its four capabilities of acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation and their impact on effective knowledge management. All of these capabilities are strategies that enable external knowledge to be recognized, imported and integrated into, and further developed within the organization effectively. The research tests the relationships between absorptive capacity and effective knowledge management through analysis of quantitative data (n = 549) drawn from managers and employees in 35 residential aged care organizations in Western Australia. Responses were analysed using Partial Least Square-based Structural Equation Modelling. Additional analysis was conducted to assess if the job role (of manager or employee) and three industry context variables of profit motive, size of business and length of time the organization has been in business, impacted on the hypothesized relationships.

Structural model analysis examines the relationships between variables as hypothesized in the research framework. Analysis found that absorptive capacity and the four capabilities correlated significantly with effective knowledge management, with absorptive capacity explaining 56% of the total variability for effective knowledge management. Findings from this research also show that absorptive capacity and the four capabilities provide a useful framework for examining knowledge management in the service industry. Additionally, there were no significant differences in the perceptions held between managers and employees, nor between respondents in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Furthermore, the size of the organization and length of time the organization has been in business did not impact on absorptive capacity, the four capabilities and effective knowledge management.

The research considers implications for business in light of these findings. The role of managers in providing leadership across the knowledge management process was confirmed, as well as the importance of guiding routines and knowledge sharing throughout the organization. Further, the results indicate that within the participating organizations there are discernible differences in the way that some organizations manage their knowledge, compared to others. To achieve effective knowledge management, managers need to provide a supportive workplace culture, facilitate strong employee relationships, encourage employees to seek out new knowledge, continually engage in two-way communication with employees and provide up-to-date policies and procedures that guide employees in doing their work. The implementation of knowledge management strategies has also been shown in this research to enhance the delivery and quality of residential aged care.

War is one of the worst characteristics of human nature. Wars over territory, religion, and governance were and are always present through history. War and tourism seem dissonant at first glance. However, the post effects of war enable its components, such as battlefields and artefacts, to become tourist attractions. People share the impetus to visit war attractions such as battlefields, military museums, cemeteries, memorials, and other war-related sites. There is a supply for this type of tourism in exchange for the demand. This type of tourism is referred to in the literature as battlefield tourism. The meaning and definition of battlefield tourism are the main aim of this chapter. What is battlefield tourism? What are the components of battlefield tourism? How can battlefield tourism be defined? These are the primary questions this study tries to address.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of empowering leadership, directive leadership and initiating structure on innovation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and examine the mediating role of climate for innovation on those relationships.

Applying structural equation modeling, the study empirically tested the model on a sample of 330 employees from tourism SMEs in Vietnam.

Results indicated that climate for innovation mediated the relationship between empowering leadership and innovation and also initiating structure and innovation. Whereas empowering leadership was found to have a negative direct influence on innovation, directive leadership was unrelated to innovation.

The results of this study contribute to the literature by expanding the existing research on SME innovation, assessing the effect of diverse leadership styles and a climate for innovation on the innovation performance of SMEs. The findings enrich the literature by indicating the contribution of empowering leadership, directive leadership and initiating structure on encouraging innovation in SMEs.

When leading subordinates in the SME context, leaders who have a clear understanding of the effect of empowerment, direction and initiating structure can optimally seek to stimulate innovation. These leadership approaches influence employees’ task, interpersonal and role-related processes that shape a climate for innovation.

The novelty of this paper is that it examines the differential influences of empowering leadership, directive leadership and initiating structure on innovation and the mediating role of climate for innovation on these relationships.

Certain elements of Hayek’s work are prominent precursors to the modern field of complex adaptive systems, including his ideas on spontaneous order, his focus on market processes, his contrast between designing and gardening, and his own framing of complex systems. Conceptually, he was well ahead of his time, prescient in his formulation of novel ways to think about economies and societies. Technically, the fact that he did not mathematically formalize most of the notions he developed makes his insights hard to incorporate unambiguously into models. However, because so much of his work is divorced from the simplistic models proffered by early mathematical economics, it stands as fertile ground for complex systems researchers today. I suggest that Austrian economists can create a progressive research program by building models of these Hayekian ideas, and thereby gain traction within the economics profession. Instead of mathematical models the suite of techniques and tools known as agent-based computing seems particularly well-suited to addressing traditional Austrian topics like money, business cycles, coordination, market processes, and so on, while staying faithful to the methodological individualism and bottom-up perspective that underpin the entire school of thought.