Search results

1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 3 October 2016

Lawrence A. Patterson and Samuel Berry

The purpose of this paper is to explore experiences of team culture, structure and function of an intensive support service (ISS) within the context of the recent service guidance…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore experiences of team culture, structure and function of an intensive support service (ISS) within the context of the recent service guidance “Building the Right Support” (NHS England, Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, 2015). Reflections on the Hampshire and Southampton ISS set up in 2010 are discussed with a view to informing a debate about frameworks for ISS services nationally.

Design/methodology/approach

A reflective piece, drawing on experience and case examples.

Findings

This paper describes that a key function of an ISS is making individuals safe and this is significantly assisted by using shared team formulation, which can enable information and perspectives to be shared between and within teams as rapidly as possible. Further, a case is made for recognising the importance of inter-disciplinary practice, as the Southampton and Hampshire ISS has removed the “old fashioned” demarcations that led to individuals seeing a “procession” of different professionals from different disciplines. This relates to team structure, but importantly is about a culture of holding a shared identity based on positive behavioural support values, rather than a traditional uni-disciplinary perspective.

Practical implications

ISS models are being proposed by NHS England and this paper suggests some important practical aspects.

Originality/value

Limited literature exists examining the team culture within ISSs, which contributes to desired outcomes for service users. This paper opens a debate about structural and functional aspects of service delivery in this service model.

Details

Tizard Learning Disability Review, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-5474

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2002

Robert White and Dallas Hanson

This paper is an empirical response to two of Quattrone’s claims: first, that research in accounting is fragmented; and then that this follows from the blocking of communication…

1893

Abstract

This paper is an empirical response to two of Quattrone’s claims: first, that research in accounting is fragmented; and then that this follows from the blocking of communication by intra‐ and inter‐disciplinary boundaries. Although we agree with much of Quattrone’s argument, and in particular with his problematising of “economic man”, we draw an opposite conclusion. Rather than looking to a trans‐disciplinary removal of boundaries, we use a survey of 30 years of research in corporate annual reports to defend narrowly disciplinary work. We make our case through discussing problems of intra‐ and inter‐disciplinary unity in research, the puzzle of the role of “economic man” in the study of annual reports, and the alternative to him in science and technology studies (STS). Our approach yields a better fit than Quattrone’s own solution with his aims of an evolutionary perspective that allows for historical shifts, and for a reflexivity that includes the inevitable entanglement of researchers in what they study. We conclude by noting that our approach is applicable to the study of corporate communication more generally.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1998

Fiona Shield

Closure of a Hospital in an area with a high percentage of elderly people created a need for good‐quality, cost‐effective rehabilitation services. The paper describes the setting…

Abstract

Closure of a Hospital in an area with a high percentage of elderly people created a need for good‐quality, cost‐effective rehabilitation services. The paper describes the setting up of a rehabilitation team and centre, and the benefits that it has provided.

Details

Journal of Integrated Care, vol. 6 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1476-9018

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2000

Maxine Robertson and Geraldine O’Malley Hammersley

This paper draws attention to the potentially focal role that appropriate people management practices can and do play in facilitating knowledge management within the context of a…

8908

Abstract

This paper draws attention to the potentially focal role that appropriate people management practices can and do play in facilitating knowledge management within the context of a specialist consulting firm that sustains its competitive advantage through processes of knowledge creation. The paper highlights the way in which traditional approaches to people management issues such as recruitment and selection, professional development etc. are not necessarily appropriate or relevant when managing an expert workforce that expects and demands considerable levels of autonomy. The findings highlight that perhaps too much reliance has been placed on technological solutions to KM to date. Hence the paper emphasises the highly situated and contextual nature of KM and the practices or systems in support of KM, which existing literature in this field has failed to adequately address.

Details

Journal of European Industrial Training, vol. 24 no. 2/3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0590

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 April 2022

Di Bailey and Gabriella Jennifer Mutale

This study examined the contribution of adult social work in integrated teams in the UK.

Abstract

Purpose

This study examined the contribution of adult social work in integrated teams in the UK.

Design/methodology/approach

The study design was realist, evaluation research using a mixed methods approach. Data collection methods included interviews and focus groups. Types of social work activities were extracted from older adults' case records and used to calculate costs of care. The presence or absence of indicators of care quality was recorded using the same sample of case records. Data were collected from three primary care teams in which social work was integrated. They were compared with data from three social-work-only teams in the same districts. Narrative data was analysed thematically. Inferential and descriptive statistics were used to compare costs and care quality.

Findings

When social work was embedded or attached to a primary care team, costs of care delivery were lower than in their social-work-only team and more indicators of good quality care outcomes were recorded. Results suggest that embedding social work in integrated primary care teams contributes to cost-effective, quality care for older people if certain conditions for integration are met.

Originality/value

This is the first study to triangulate three data sources to quantify the social work contribution to integrated primary health care teams for older adults.

Details

Journal of Integrated Care, vol. 30 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1476-9018

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2003

R.W. Grimshaw

The world‐wide growth of facilities management (FM) institutions with ambition to become recognised as professional gatekeepers raises issues about the claim of FM to be a…

1940

Abstract

The world‐wide growth of facilities management (FM) institutions with ambition to become recognised as professional gatekeepers raises issues about the claim of FM to be a profession. Does FM practice and conduct merit this designation? Using Nutt’s resource‐based approach to FM with its four “trails to the future”, the tensions that exist on the interface between the “business trail” and the “people trail” provide the context needed to discuss the nature of FM’s professional credentials. This paper examines this context and the factors that influence each side of this professional interface and the implications for the development of a successful FM profession in contemporary society.

Details

Facilities, vol. 21 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2006

Majda Bastic and Gabrijela Leskovar‐Spacapan

Innovativeness is probably the most effective way for organizations in the transition economies to improve their competitiveness. The purpose of this research is to find those…

1607

Abstract

Purpose

Innovativeness is probably the most effective way for organizations in the transition economies to improve their competitiveness. The purpose of this research is to find those factors, which significantly contribute to the innovativeness of organizations in the oldest market‐based economies but they have not been developed in the transition organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

A range of recently published works, which aimed to provide different theoretical findings and best practice of innovative economies highlighted organizational culture, entrepreneurship and market orientation as the most important factors influencing the organizational innovation intensity and sustained competitive advantage. These factors and their relationships together with the characteristics of the transition economies were applied to put hypotheses about their impact on innovation intensity in the transition organizations. The structural equation modeling was used to test these hypotheses on the sample of 214 Slovenian organizations.

Findings

The comparison of both innovation models, i.e. one significant for the innovative organizations, and the other found for the transition organizations showed that innovative organizational culture and market orientation have been the most important missing factors preventing the transition organizations from being innovative and thus achieving the sustained competitive advantage.

Research limitations/implications

Data collection was limited to one country, i.e. Slovenia.

Practical implications

The results obtained show that organizations cannot be innovative if all the most important factors influencing the innovation capability are not equally developed.

Originality/value

The missing factors and relations which have been the main obstacles for the transition organizations to be more innovative are found by benchmarking based on the structural equation modeling.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 35 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2008

Dina Koutsikouri, Simon Austin and Andrew Dainty

The purpose of this paper is to explore critical success factors (CSFs) in interdisciplinary building design projects from the view point of the project members themselves. While…

2423

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore critical success factors (CSFs) in interdisciplinary building design projects from the view point of the project members themselves. While there is a plethora of research on CSFs, there is a paucity of studies that examine CSFs within this unique project context.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi‐structured interviews, a survey and facilitated workshops were used to identify factors and their interrelationships within the project context.

Findings

Thirty‐one primary CSFs were distilled which were then further grouped into four interdependent group factors: management factors, design team factors, competencies and resources factors and project enablers. It would appear that there are factors that are particularly important in such project environments, which do not figure strongly in other project environments. These factors are related to the socio‐political dynamics of inter‐disciplinary team work such as passion and enthusiasm, shared values, creativity and innovation and represent so‐called “super soft factors” which reflect personal success and its importance in achieving positive project outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

Although there has been significant research on CSFs in construction projects, little attention has been paid to those which are related to the collaborative design phase of such projects.

Practical implications

The results suggest that it is worthwhile for managers in construction related organisations and beyond to recognise the interdependencies which exist between the project context, processes and the project members' experience and affinity to the project and the team itself in project work to achieve desired outcomes.

Originality/value

This paper extends the CSF literature by identifying the nature of the primary factors and their interrelationships which influence project outcomes in collaborative design projects.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, vol. 6 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 September 2021

Falk Heinrich and Lone Kørnøv

This study aims to contribute to the exploration of inter-disciplinary approaches in higher education for sustainability. It is a reflection on a case study linking students in…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to contribute to the exploration of inter-disciplinary approaches in higher education for sustainability. It is a reflection on a case study linking students in the arts and sustainability science, through which the inter-disciplinary and problem-solving processes for solving a concrete sustainability challenge were explored.

Design/methodology/approach

The case study featured a workshop with students from two educational programmes at Aalborg University, namely, Art and Technology and Environmental Management and Sustainability Science, the latter being an engineering programme and the former part of the humanities. Experience evaluation was based on participant observation, written feedback and the workshop facilitators’ post-event reflections. Data analysis was based on multi-grounded theory, dialectically combining empirical data (through open coding) with relevant emergence theories. Notions of emergence were chosen because the supposed benefit of inter-disciplinarity is the emergence of novel solutions to complex problems. The study investigates the concrete conditions of emergence in educational inter-disciplinary settings.

Findings

The workshop led to a successful experience, bringing an art-based approach together with sustainability science for arriving at solutions that neither of the two would have arrived at separately. Based on participant experiences and realisations, five “emergence concepts” are suggested as supportive learning criteria and conditions, namely, “knowledge expansion”, “complementarity”, “disciplinary self-reflection”, “change of practice” and “play”.

Originality/value

The findings and emergence concepts can be an inspiration for creating an effective learning environment supporting the emergence of different forms of knowledge and solution concepts for solving sustainability challenges.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2023

Pragya Gupta and Renuka Mahajan

The study aims to ratify skills necessary to bridge the gap between the existing models and emerging needs of a technology-enabled workspace; especially in the Indian context.

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to ratify skills necessary to bridge the gap between the existing models and emerging needs of a technology-enabled workspace; especially in the Indian context.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper extends the ongoing debate on a relevant employability framework suitable both for higher education institutes and corporates. To remain resilient to future catastrophes similar to the ongoing pandemic, the relevancy of established employability skills to suit the changing scenario needs to be established.

Findings

The partial least squares (PLS) technique has been used to present a framework confirming the importance of digital competencies, business fundamentals and behavioral skills. In-depth discussions with specialists ratified the proposed framework and recommended potential changes in curriculum and pedagogy.

Research limitations/implications

This study validates an explicit and comprehensive employability skill framework and useful recommendations in teaching strategies, which may provide a broad skill base for graduates to prepare for the volatile business environment in the long run.

Practical implications

The study has been able to put forth significant employability skills as deemed significant by the three stakeholders. This will provide guidance to higher educational institutions (HEIs) to come up with a broad skill-base for the fresh graduates and prepare them for the volatile business environment and encourage life-long learning to remain productive in the long run.

Originality/value

The study is unique as it incorporates the perceived importance of the competencies assumed by each stakeholder, namely, employers, faculty and management graduates, which was unfortunately lacking in earlier researches.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

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