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1 – 10 of 93
Article
Publication date: 3 May 2021

Marc Dorval and Marie-Hélène Jobin

This work seeks to offer a greater understanding of Lean healthcare implementation challenges conceptually taking a situated cultural organizational change perspective.

Abstract

Purpose

This work seeks to offer a greater understanding of Lean healthcare implementation challenges conceptually taking a situated cultural organizational change perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

A descriptive model of healthcare organizations’ Lean adoption trajectories is built using ripple and bridging modelization strategies from elements of three classic organizational change theories and knowledge from Lean, organizational culture, healthcare and operations management literature.

Findings

The “contingent Lean culture adoption” (CLCA) model suggests five theoretical trajectories the healthcare organizations may experience when conducting a Lean transformation. These trajectories evolve from a new concept of Lean cultural friction (LCF) which represents cultural friction that a healthcare organization encounters toward an ultimate Lean culture proficiency state through time. From high to low initial LCF, a healthcare organization may in its Lean proficiency course end up in three states: lower, similar or higher LCF situation.

Research limitations/implications

The CLCA model demonstrates the potential to be developed into a framework and possibly a Lean cultural friction theory pending further qualitative and quantitative validation.

Practical implications

The CLCA model may help healthcare managers to use more appropriate cultural change strategies during their organization’s Lean journey.

Originality/value

This work enriches the concept of Lean cultural change which may apply not only to healthcare organizations but also to other ones. It suggests the existence of a healthcare organization Lean culture proficiency archetype and introduces the notion of Lean cultural friction.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 71 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2005

Georges Dumont and Christofer Kühl

The purpose of this paper is the optimisation of shape memory alloy (SMA) spring actuators. The purpose of these actuators is to control active endoscopes. The objective for such…

1249

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is the optimisation of shape memory alloy (SMA) spring actuators. The purpose of these actuators is to control active endoscopes. The objective for such endoscopes is to minimize one patient pain during operation.

Design/methodology/approach

A range of recently published (1990‐2002) works, which aim to provide models for SMA actuators, do not focus on the simulation and on the design of such actuators. SMAs have two main characteristics, namely the phase change and non‐linear behaviour in each phase. The proposed model is based on a mixed approach combining an Euler‐Bernoulli beam model and a bi‐dimensional finite element model. It allows the modelling of plastic behaviour and drives the phase evolution in the beam cross‐section.

Findings

The physical properties of SMAs are described and modelled. A new beam model and a numerical algorithm are proposed. Preliminary results demonstrate the performance of our method on two problems and lead to determine the actuator capability. The resulting actuator model is then integrated into an optimisation process based on genetic algorithms. The overall approach provides a design tool for SMA spring actuator subjected to design constraints.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed method is only validated for our practical purposes. However, we believe that the optimisation methodology may have other implications in structure design.

Originality/value

This paper provides an optimisation approach that is valuable for scientists and engineers in engineering computations.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 22 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 July 2013

Jérôme Perret, Christoph Kneschke, Judy Vance and Georges Dumont

The paper aims to present interactive simulation with haptic feedback as a valid method for solving complex assembly problems in the context of industrial product development. Its…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to present interactive simulation with haptic feedback as a valid method for solving complex assembly problems in the context of industrial product development. Its purpose is to clarify the position of interactive simulation with respect to other methods, and to emphasize its specific value for design engineers.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes the challenges faced by design engineers in the context of design for assembly and assembly process planning. It introduces and compares automatic path planning and interactive simulation as two different approaches for checking the feasibility of assembly tasks. It provides a review of the scientific challenges and technical issues faced when implementing interactive simulation with haptic feedback in this context. It presents recent research results in the domains of final insertion and human model simulation.

Findings

The paper provides an overview of the scientific, technological and practical aspects of interactive simulation with haptic feedback. It explains how this method benefits from the manual skills and cognitive capabilities of the human operator for solving complex assembly problems. It proposes an assessment of the technical maturity using the Technology Readiness Level approach.

Originality/value

The paper gives insights about the maturity and usability of interactive assembly simulation with haptic feedback, for the benefit of design engineers seeking new ways to decrease product development time and costs while increasing quality.

Details

Assembly Automation, vol. 33 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-5154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 March 2019

Marc Dorval, Marie-Hélène Jobin and Nadia Benomar

The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of pragmatic ambiguity (PA) lean culture has currently in the manufacturing and service literature.

3307

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of pragmatic ambiguity (PA) lean culture has currently in the manufacturing and service literature.

Design/methodology/approach

A comprehensive systematic review of academic (journals, books and theses) and commercial literature was undertaken drawn from a six databases search of two keywords (“lean” and “culture”) and related citations.

Findings

A total sample of 1,066 references (678 academic papers, 121 books, 103 theses and 164 commercial documents) were analyzed. The authors found contributions from 67 countries but oddly, only two came from Japan. In total, 89 percent of citations were directly about lean culture. However, for 86 percent of them, lean culture was only discussed superficially. All four literature segments show an over 85 percent agreement on lean culture being an organizational aim. The authors encountered 103 definitions of organizational culture and found 13 definitions of lean culture. Issues of culture gap, leadership, human resource management, sustainability and innovation are found to amplify lean culture’s already high PA level.

Research limitations/implications

Further research and development are needed to decrease lean culture’s PA level and improve understanding of lean from a cultural perspective.

Practical implications

Current lean culture’s high PA level has positive and negative effects on lean implementation. Taking lean implementation from a cultural perspective may facilitate an organization’s lean transformation journey.

Originality/value

This is the first systematic literature review on lean culture using a broad and inductive approach. An original evidence-based definition of organizational culture is proposed.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 68 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 September 2019

Marc Dorval and Marie-Hélène Jobin

Lean culture has been noted to be an underdeveloped concept. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of Lean culture by determining its leading cultural…

395

Abstract

Purpose

Lean culture has been noted to be an underdeveloped concept. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of Lean culture by determining its leading cultural clusters.

Design/methodology/approach

Content analysis was used to perform top relevant keywords exploration and qualitative analysis on main text of 33 reference books, 21 Lean generic and 12 Lean healthcare, consolidated as three cases (Lean general, Lean Liker et al. and Lean healthcare).

Findings

Four emergent Lean’s leading cultural clusters: operations, change, collectivity and humanity were identified inductively from ten 10 relevant keywords, namely, in order of importance: work, time, process, Lean, system, improvement, production, patient, people and team. Saliency of the word “time” is noteworthy. Cross-validation of these cultural clusters is demonstrated through sociotechnical systems theory.

Research limitations/implications

Content analysis is shown to be an effective research method enabling inductive analysis. Identification of four leading clusters should support productive further research on Lean culture.

Practical implications

The four cultural clusters indicate to healthcare and other domains managers, who wish to improve their Lean cultural transformation success rate, to focus their attention to what their organization actually does (operations), to how improvement happens (change) and to how everything (collectivity) and everyone (humanity) work together in their organization.

Originality/value

This work applies innovative content analysis on Lean reference books. It highlights the importance of time as an underappreciated Lean culture element. It provides evidence and additional support for link between Lean and sociotechnical systems theory.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 69 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 October 2013

Xiang Wang, Guangya Zhu and Ke Li

The present study aims to resolve the adjustment problem of cavitation bubble number density in simulations of the cavitating flows within the diesel injection nozzle holes using…

Abstract

Purpose

The present study aims to resolve the adjustment problem of cavitation bubble number density in simulations of the cavitating flows within the diesel injection nozzle holes using a two-fluid cavitation model.

Design/methodology/approach

The basic rule that determines the variations of cavitation bubble number density has been checked through the scaling analysis of a two-fluid model under the assumption of hydrodynamic similarity of the cavitating flows. Moreover, a phenomenological model for the number density of cavitation bubbles that takes the hydrodynamic effect into account has been developed through the combined analysis of cavitation bubble dynamics and internal flow characteristics of diesel injection nozzle holes. This new model has also been validated by the discharge coefficient measures in a wide range of injection conditions.

Findings

The values of cavitation bubble number density must rationally match changes both in liquid quality effect and in hydrodynamic effect corresponding to different cavitating flows. The validation results show that the two-fluid cavitation model together with this new cavitation bubble number density model predicts well both the cavitation content inside the diesel nozzle hole and the relationship between discharge coefficient and cavitation number, and the new cavitation bubble number density model has the potential to further expand the application range of the two-fluid cavitation model.

Originality/value

This study provides insight into hydrodynamic effect corresponding to cavitating flows inside diesel nozzle holes and presents an idea to model the cavitation bubble number density phenomenologically. The model idea and the developed model are useful to researchers and engineers in the area of nozzle internal flow and cavitating flow.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 23 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 February 2024

Irene Skovgaard-Smith

The purpose of the paper is to propose a shift from the ideal of immersion to a practice of “committed localism” in the ethnographic study of relational work in the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to propose a shift from the ideal of immersion to a practice of “committed localism” in the ethnographic study of relational work in the post-bureaucratic and service-based economy.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on ethnographic fieldwork following management consultancy projects in a hospital and a manufacturing company in Denmark. The approach was predicated on committed attention to the everyday of consultancy work activities and associated relational dynamics. This involved being present at the client sites, observing and listening in concrete situations of interaction and engaging in conversations with the multiple actors involved, both external consultants and members of client organisations.

Findings

The paper shows how “committed localism” was practiced in the ethnographic study of management consultancy as it is relationally accomplished in and through concrete situations of interaction between consultants and different actors in client organizations and the associated meaning production of the involved actors.

Originality/value

The paper develops the notion of “committed localism”, originally introduced by George Marcus, into a methodological concept to challenge the conventional ideal of immersion as the hallmark of “proper” ethnography. Such a shift is particularly pertinent for the ethnographic study of relational processes involving multiple actors occupying different positions in the temporary social spaces of contemporary workplaces.

Details

Journal of Organizational Ethnography, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6749

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2021

Mohammad Rabiul Basher Rubel, Daisy Mui Hung Kee and Nadia Newaz Rimi

The purpose of this study intends to examine the influence of green human resource management (GHRM) on green service behaviors through the mediating effect of green knowledge…

4818

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study intends to examine the influence of green human resource management (GHRM) on green service behaviors through the mediating effect of green knowledge sharing based on bank employees' perceptions.

Design/methodology/approach

The study analyzes 365 frontline employees' perceptions from the banking industry in Bangladesh using partial least square.

Findings

The findings show a significant positive direct influence of GHRM on green in-role, extra-role service behavior and green knowledge sharing. Green knowledge sharing is also found to have a significant mediating effect between GHRM and green service behaviors.

Research limitations/implications

This study considers perceptions of employees of the private commercial banking organizations, and thereby, its findings cannot be generalized for all other service organizations in the context of Bangladesh.

Practical implications

The study demonstrates that GHRM can influence employees' green service behaviors via green knowledge sharing.

Originality/value

Green banking is an emerging trend that deserves more attention. There is growing recognition that green banking is not an “automatic” process but requires that banking management promote green service behavior among their employees. This study extends the research on GHRM by focusing on how it impacts green service behavior through the mediating role of green knowledge sharing. The paper provides practical insights for organizations looking to improve green service behaviors among employees.

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. 43 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 April 2014

Kristen Jones, Kathy Stewart, Eden King, Whitney Botsford Morgan, Veronica Gilrane and Kimberly Hylton

Previous research demonstrates the damaging effects of hostile sexism enacted towards women in the workplace. However, there is less research on the consequences of benevolent…

4241

Abstract

Purpose

Previous research demonstrates the damaging effects of hostile sexism enacted towards women in the workplace. However, there is less research on the consequences of benevolent sexism: a subjectively positive form of discrimination. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing from ambivalent sexism theory, the authors first utilized an experimental methodology in which benevolent and hostile sexism were interpersonally enacted toward both male and female participants.

Findings

Results suggested that benevolent sexism negatively impacted participants' self-efficacy in mixed-sex interactions. Extending these findings, the results of a second field study clarify self-efficacy as a mediating mechanism in the relationship between benevolent sexism and workplace performance.

Originality/value

Finally, benevolent sexism contributed incremental prediction of performance above and beyond incivility, further illustrating the detrimental consequences of benevolently sexist attitudes towards women in the workplace.

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Keywords

1 – 10 of 93