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The large‐scale introduction of a new packaging concept requires co‐ordination in two areas: organisational co‐ordination is necessary (negotiations between the parties involved), as well as technical co‐ordination (technical specifications). These aspects are analysed in this paper on the basis of standardisation and strategic management literature. The theory is illustrated using the successful introduction in The Netherlands of the Versfust (Freshcrate): a standard crate for the distribution of fresh food products. A systematic approach to standard packaging is both desirable and possible, as emerges from literature and from the Freshcrate product.

This paper aims to study the function of standardisation in intermodal transport. It identifies where standardisation helps to improve intermodal transport, who is active in intermodal transport standardisation, what types of standards are needed and what the decision-making process and implementation of standards should be like to positively influence the performance of intermodal transportation.

An empirical study is designed to carry out this research project. The empirical study starts with a review of the organisations that are responsible for standardisation and intermodal transport, together with the standards that they have developed, and are developing, so far. It continues with analysing the topics where standardisation helps to improve the performance of intermodal transport. The analysis is based on 12 interviews, followed by desk research, to validate the respondents’ statements.

The results show that intermodal transportation should be distinguished in continental and maritime transport, which require different standards. In maritime transport, the hardware aspects of the system are highly standardised. However, further standardisation of information exchange offers potential to improve the quality of transport. For continental transport, challenges appear in the heterogeneity of infrastructure and loading units used in Europe. For both systems, openness and consensus are main requirements for the development of successful standards.

Standards facilitate interoperability, quality and safety of intermodal transportation, which leads to better performance. This has drawn little attention in the literature. This study addresses this gap and focuses on Europe.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the added value of philosophy in understanding and overcoming resistance to quality control.

The paper describes a case in which the philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd was applied to give advice on a standardisation project within a company. The authors evaluate the project and resistance to it after six years, using the same philosophical approach.

Economic goals of quality control were achieved without any substantial employee resistance by addressing non-economic aspects. Apparently, social needs are not necessarily detrimental to economic goals. On the contrary, it is difficult to achieve economic goals if the social aspects are not being addressed.

Though based on one case study only, the findings suggest that a multi-aspect approach to quality management is very promising.

The approach is not just a TQM tool but rather a way of addressing various aspects in a systematic and balanced way. Familiarising managers with this approach should help them to balance financial and other aspects without making those other aspects instrumental to achieving financial targets.

The paper presents a new multi-aspect approach to quality management, based on philosophy in business research. It seems that the value of this approach reaches beyond the area of quality management and can be important to organisation studies in general.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed the ISO 14000 series of standards for environmental management as a response to the concerns about sustainable development expressed at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. The most important standard is ISO 14001, published in 1996 and slightly modified in 2004, which specifies requirements for environmental management systems. Worldwide, 188,815 organisations have obtained a certificate for their environmental management system based on this standard (figures December 2008). This paper aims to address the extent to which implementation of this standard has contributed to sustainability and also whether implementation is not only an expenditure, but also a source of business benefits.

In order to answer these questions, the existing literature on the impact of ISO 14001 has been reviewed.

Literature shows evidence for environmental and/or business improvements of organisations that have implemented the standard, however, the opposite can also be found. The performance indicators have been identified from which this evidence could be found. Also the literature shows some moderating variables for the impact of ISO 14001.

This paper contributes to the insights in the effects of ISO14001.

This paper seeks to find out which factors influence the willingness of professionals to contribute to a certification process and to understand the rationale behind this willingness.

Based on literature, prerequisites are formulated for the willingness of professionals to contribute to certification. These are compared with the results of a study among lecturers at Universities of Applied Sciences in The Netherlands and Flanders about their willingness to contribute to accreditation of their schools. This study combines survey and Delphi research.

Professionals agree on the added value of certification systems. They are willing to contribute to the certification process, provided that a set of conditions is fulfilled.

The case focuses on large organisations for which certification is obligatory. The findings may not apply in small or medium‐sized organisations or if the main driver for certification is internal improvement. Further research is needed to verify the generalisation of the results to other sectors and countries.

Research has shown that it is difficult to motivate professionals to contribute to certification. Little research has been done on the reasons why. The paper provides more insight into the difficulties that organizations face to commit their professionals to become involved in certification and turns these into requirements to be fulfilled to achieve commitment. These are relevant for organisations, which need the support of their professional employees to achieve management system certification.

Climate change: the question is not anymore if it happens, but what the impact is of its effects such as drought, heat waves and increased precipitation on the quality of our lives in cities, offices and houses. A significant share of the Northern European housing stock is owned and maintained by large stock owners, such as housing associations. It is their responsibility to be aware of changes and risks that might challenge the quality of life of their tenants. Moreover, in order to provide housing with a good market value in the future, adaptation to climate change can no longer be overlooked.

With the aim to discover the level of awareness of climate change adaptation among Dutch housing associations, a content analysis was undertaken on the policy plans and the annual reports of the 25 largest housing associations. Subsequently they were classified according to their level of awareness. The analysis returned no topics that directly referred to climate change adaptation, which implies that all housing associations are categorised as being ‘unaware’. Therefore, in order to reach higher levels of awareness and to incentivize the implementation of adaptation measures, appropriate governance strategies need to be developed. Future research will define the characteristics of these strategies in relation to the level of awareness of the housing associations. Adoption of the measures could be easier if adaptation measures are combined with maintenance activities, as this has been the case with mitigation measures.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a study investigating the limits of the applicability of the focused factory concept (FFC) in health care. The case setting comes from the Dutch obstetric care system, which is organised by principles in sync with the FFC; the organisation for “simple” pregnancies (independent midwifery practices) is fully separated from that for “complex” pregnancies (obstetric departments in hospitals). The paper investigates the degree of fit between how the Dutch obstetric care system is organised and how it operates (internal fit).

This study analyses one year of patient data from one obstetric hospital department and from one midwifery practice in its immediate geographical proximity. Data were collected regarding the medical condition, consultations, and delivery. These data were used to test the degree to which the obstetric care system operates in line with the FFC; one would expect the midwifery practice to operate as a “line process”, and the obstetric department as a “jobbing process”.

Findings suggest that the Dutch obstetric care sector is designed in line with the FFC, but does not operate accordingly. Root causes for this misalignment can be found in the characteristics of the medical condition of pregnancy.

The fact that the data concern only one region must raise caution for generalisation. However, the fact that medical conditions, which can be assumed to be universal, lead to an intrinsic mismatch between the FFC organisation and medical operational reality, suggests that this paper may have broad implications for theory and practice.

For the Dutch obstetric case system, this paper is one in a series that casts doubts on the sustainability of the two‐tiered system. For obstetric care in general, integrated care seems preferable to the FFC. For health care in general, this paper suggests that caution is required in applying the FFC. Moreover, in OM research for health care, more efforts should be made to understand how medical conditions affect the daily operational processes and, hence, the organisational design.

Most of the studies focusing on the applicability of the FFC look at financial and medical outcomes. This paper is original in that it looks at what drives these outcomes, i.e. the degree of fit between strategy, organisational design and operational performance.

Organisations engage in explicit and intentional communication with employees in various ways. However, communication will not be received in a “neutral” context. Employees operate in an organisational (or behavioural) context determined by the organisational culture, structures and systems, and the management practices. This context acts as a source of implicit communication towards employees. This view fits the various perspectives about communication, which does not need to be considered as a two‐way process, and which can be intentionally or unintentionally, transmitted and received. All too often, implicit communication is at odds with the “official” explicit communication. Through this latter form of communication the organisation might, for example, proclaim a quality image, while in reality employees experience that, in case of conflicts, delivery planning prevails over quality. Likewise, communication about the “learning organisation” appears to be cumbersome in a culture suppressing discussion about failures. The effect of implicit communication should not be underestimated. Cynicism among employees is repeatedly the result of inconsistent messages being received. This paper describes the aspects of organisational culture, structures and systems, and management practices, seen in a behavioural context, in order to illustrate how these aspects act as an implicit source of communication to employees. Additionally, this form of communication expresses whether employees themselves are seen as the crucial core of organisational success. The importance of consistent signals is illustrated, specifically with respect to organisational change programs.

In professional learning communities (PLCs), teachers collaborate and learn with the aim of improving students' learning. The aim of this study is to gain insight into teachers' perceptions of their schools' changing toward PLCs and conditions which support or hamper this change.

Questionnaires were completed by a total of 2.111 teachers from 15 Dutch secondary schools for three years. With the use of multilevel regression analyses, the research questions were answered.

Although the development of a school toward a PLC seems to be a slow process, the findings demonstrate the influence of school conditions on this development. Human resource management (HRM) stands out, as this school condition has a direct and longitudinal effect on the change.

The main recommendation is to embed PLC elements in HRM policies such as facilitating teachers to collaboratively work and learn and aligning teachers' professional development with schools' vision and ambitions.

PLCs have been studied occasionally in longitudinal in-depth case studies or in large-scale, cross-sectional research. This large-scale longitudinal study provides insights into the sustainability of schools as PLCs and the school conditions that are associated with sustainability.