Search results
1 – 10 of 10Julie Feather, Axel Kaehne and Joann Kiernan
Drawing on the experiences of healthcare professionals in one paediatric hospital, this paper explores the influence of context and organisational behaviour on the implementation…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the experiences of healthcare professionals in one paediatric hospital, this paper explores the influence of context and organisational behaviour on the implementation of a person-centred transition programme for adolescents and young adults (AYA) with long-term conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
A single embedded qualitative case study design informed by a realist evaluation framework, was used. Participants who had experience of implementing the transition programme were recruited from across seven individual services within the healthcare organisation. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews (n = 20) and analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings
Implementation of the transition programme was influenced by the complex interaction of macro, meso and micro processes and contexts. Features of organisational behaviour including routines and habits, culture, organisational readiness for change and professional relationships shaped professional decision-making around programme implementation.
Originality/value
There exists a significant body of research relating to the role of context and its influence on the successful implementation of complex healthcare interventions. However, within the area of healthcare transition there is little published evidence on the role that organisational behaviour and contextual factors play in influencing transition programme implementation. This paper provides an in-depth understanding of how organisational behaviour and contextual factors affect transition programme implementation.
Details
Keywords
Mohamad Tannir, Grant Mills, Ilias Krystallis and Jas Kalra
This study aims to further the understanding of multi-level analysis in inter-organisational relationships by investigating the interplay of governance, cooperation and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to further the understanding of multi-level analysis in inter-organisational relationships by investigating the interplay of governance, cooperation and coordination in inter-organisational projects (IOPs) on sub-system and project levels.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use the Viable Systems Model as a framework to analyse inter-organisational project governance, cooperation and coordination by adopting a multiple-case study.
Findings
The findings illustrate how governance and coordination mechanisms exhibit a filter-down effect on lower sub-systems while cooperation influence is confined within each sub-system. While remarking the importance of specific sub-systems on the overall project performance, the interplay of governance, cooperation and coordination across sub-systems appears to be complex, with governance influencing cooperation and coordination, whereas cooperation and coordination influence each other with an incremental effect.
Originality/value
This study defines two propositions that explain how multiple levels of analysis (project and sub-systems) can support the governance of large inter-organisational projects. The authors elaborate theory on the interplay of inter-organisational project governance, cooperation and coordination.
Details
Keywords
Thusitha Dissanayake and Steven Dellaportas
This study examines accounting reform in the Sri Lankan public sector using an actor–network perspective. The study is particularly concerned with the role of the Institute of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines accounting reform in the Sri Lankan public sector using an actor–network perspective. The study is particularly concerned with the role of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Sri Lanka (ICASL) in building networks of organisational actors in the diffusion of Sri Lankan Public Sector Accounting Standards (SLPSAS).
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical data draws on interviews with key actors to understand the role of ICASL in the diffusion of SLPSAS. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of ICASL and senior public sector officers. The data were analysed based on the four stages underlying the translation process: problematisation, interessement, enrolment and mobilisation.
Findings
The data suggest that ICASL became a lead player in the diffusion of public sector accounting standards because of its superior technical capability. ICASL cultivated a way of thinking about accrual accounting by executing relational influence generated through professional knowledge, and connections with the government and public sector accountants.
Research limitations/implications
Findings should be interpreted with caution; data are limited by the subjective interpretation of data. By concentrating on the role of ICASL, the role and influence of other key actors may be overlooked.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on how innovations transform accounting practice through the lens of the ICASL. The result builds on evidence explaining why provincial governments and public sector governments were hesitant to adopt SLPSAS despite central government directives.
Details
Keywords
Timothy I. Ramjaun, Madeleine Pullman, Maneesh Kumar and Vasco Sanchez Rodrigues
This article aims to investigate collaborative procurement as a sourcing strategy amongst competing small enterprises in an effort to reduce their material supply costs through…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to investigate collaborative procurement as a sourcing strategy amongst competing small enterprises in an effort to reduce their material supply costs through increased efficiencies, bargaining power and economies of scale.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study approach is applied to a network of breweries that are regionally clustered. Interview data from producers, suppliers and industry experts is inductively interpreted to understand the viability, organisational impact and benefits/limitations of joint procurement activities.
Findings
The craft brewing industry follows a market place strategy of differentiation to achieve competitive advantage. This has supply chain implications that promote raw material diversity, which is in conflict with standardisation – a necessary factor for collective buying. Competition impacts information sharing and governance mechanism, while the structural factors of size asymmetry along and across the supply chain influence returns. These issues impact the potential economic benefits of collaborative procurement.
Research limitations/implications
The research propositions have been developed in a specific industry but are generalisable to other companies with a differentiation strategy, especially in the consumer packaged goods sector.
Practical implications
Enabling conditions and constraints are captured in a framework and capability matrix, which can be used by practitioners to assess industry and product feasibility for collaborative procurement.
Originality/value
Previous studies of collaborative procurement have been in the public sector amongst large organisations. This work focusses on coopetition in the context of small businesses to identify the viability and cost-benefit of this strategy.
Details
Keywords
Sonika Jha, Anil Kumar Singh and Sriparna Basu
The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of literature on corporate engagement with start-ups (CEWS) by identifying the modes, contexts, antecedents, barriers…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of literature on corporate engagement with start-ups (CEWS) by identifying the modes, contexts, antecedents, barriers and outcomes. As an emerging field, CEWS presently has no such review available which will help in building consensus within the field and shape future research directions.
Design/methodology/approach
The study followed a two-phased systematic review of literature. Three research databases (i.e. Web of Science, ScienceDirect and SCOPUS) were accessed to gather and conduct the review. Of the total 379 papers retrieved, 63 total relevant papers were studied and analysed. The exhaustive review of literature helped to uncover the contexts, perspectives, antecedents, outcomes and barriers reported across the different modes of CEWS.
Findings
The study highlighted the five prominent modes of CEWS favoured by large corporations and start-ups. It found that the large corporations and start-ups associate with one another on the basis of complementarities of activities, resources and motives to pursue their strategic orientations. The engagements also face barriers on the ground, such as incompatibility of goals, power imbalances, cultural differences and weak engagement plans. Most important contexts seen were the high-technology industries in the developed economies like the USA and Europe. It also found that ecosystem creation, accessing innovation and corporate strategy have been preferred as the most productive modes of CEWS in the literature.
Practical implications
This review provides practitioners with a detailed list of the modes and drivers of CEWS. Subsequently, the barriers that need to be managed to successfully execute a specific mode of engagement. This shall enable the practitioners in developing and adopting the best practices while engaging with the start-ups to better facilitate the outcomes of CEWS.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no systematic literature review available in the domain of CEWS – thus, this study makes an important methodological contribution to the field. By consolidating the fragmented yet growing knowledge on CEWS, the study presents a detailed understanding of what drives and obstructs the engagement between large corporations and start-ups.
Details
Keywords
Klara Granheimer, Tina Karrbom Gustavsson and Per Erik Eriksson
Prior research has emphasised the importance of the early phases of construction projects, as well as the difficulties of procuring engineering services – especially due to the…
Abstract
Purpose
Prior research has emphasised the importance of the early phases of construction projects, as well as the difficulties of procuring engineering services – especially due to the uncertainties. Despite that, studies on the public procurement of engineering services are scarce. Although scholars have shown that uncertainty may affect the choice of control modes, the level of uncertainty that characterises services is not addressed by the two task characteristics: knowledge of the transformation process and output measurability. The purpose is to investigate organisational control in public procurement of engineering services.
Design/methodology/approach
The existing control model was adjusted in this study by conceptually adding uncertainty as a third aspect to the two task characteristics. A single case study of the Swedish Transport Administration was used. The empirical data, comprising 14 interviews with managers from the client and engineering consulting companies, were analysed using flexible pattern matching and visual mapping approaches and then illustrated using the model.
Findings
The public client did not base its choice of control modes on uncertainty, but rather on the other two task characteristics. Consequently, the service providers argued that the chosen control modes reduced their creativity, increased their financial risks and caused unclear responsibilities. This study therefore shows that uncertainty is an important factor to consider in the choice of control modes, both from a theoretical perspective and from the service providers' point of view. The developed model may therefore be useful for researchers as well as practitioners.
Originality/value
This study is the first attempt to add uncertainty as a task characteristic when choosing control modes. The results contribute to the scarce control literature regarding the procurement of engineering services for construction projects and the procurement of other services with high uncertainty.
Details
Keywords
Augusto Bargoni, Alberto Ferraris, Šárka Vilamová and Wan Mohd Hirwani Wan Hussain
The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrative picture of the state of the art of the literature on digitalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrative picture of the state of the art of the literature on digitalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as an enabler for their internationalisation process and as a comprehensive view of the specific domains impacted by digital technologies as well as their repercussions on the international outreach.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review which leverages a descriptive analysis of extant literature and an axial coding technique has been conducted to shed light on the current knowledge and to identify primary research areas and future research lines.
Findings
The research indicates that digitalisation impacts the internationalisation of SMEs in three specific domains: (1) internationalisation through the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) technologies and e-commerce platforms; (2) international expansion through the digitalisation of value chain activities and (3) international outreach through knowledge acquisition on digital platforms.
Originality/value
The value of this study is threefold. First, the authors attempt to systematically review the literature on SMEs digitalisation and internationalisation and provide a holistic perspective on the intertwining of these two research streams. Second, the authors propose a novel conceptualisation on the dimensions of SMEs digitalisation as enablers to internationalisation. Third, the authors put forward promising future lines of research.
Highlights
Digitalisation represents a pivotal strategy that allows companies to build new strategic capabilities and is a propeller for SMEs internationalisation.
Through e-commerce, SMEs could compete at the same level of multinational companies but enduring lower costs of expansion.
Digital platforms allow SMEs to enhance the learning processes about international markets through an immediate access to relevant information.
Digital entrepreneurship has enabled SMEs to develop new configurations of value chain activities, evolving their business model or reaching new markets.
SMEs are changing the “business as usual” paradigm offering digital tools to build modular architectures that are scalable and agile in their evolution ability.
Digitalisation represents a pivotal strategy that allows companies to build new strategic capabilities and is a propeller for SMEs internationalisation.
Through e-commerce, SMEs could compete at the same level of multinational companies but enduring lower costs of expansion.
Digital platforms allow SMEs to enhance the learning processes about international markets through an immediate access to relevant information.
Digital entrepreneurship has enabled SMEs to develop new configurations of value chain activities, evolving their business model or reaching new markets.
SMEs are changing the “business as usual” paradigm offering digital tools to build modular architectures that are scalable and agile in their evolution ability.
Details
Keywords
Qianwen Zhou and Xiaopeng Deng
Despite the knowledge transfer between projects has received increasing attention from scholars, few scholars still conduct comprehensive research on inter-project knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the knowledge transfer between projects has received increasing attention from scholars, few scholars still conduct comprehensive research on inter-project knowledge transfer from both horizontal and vertical perspectives. Besides, knowledge transfer is affected by multiple antecedent conditions, and these factors should be combined for analysis. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the key factors influencing knowledge transfer between projects using the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method from both horizontal and vertical perspectives and how these factors combine to improve the effectiveness of knowledge transfer (EKT) between projects.
Design/methodology/approach
First, nine factors affecting knowledge transfer between projects were identified, which were from the four dimensions of subject, relationship, channel, and context, namely temporary nature (TN), time urgency (TU), transmit willingness (TW), receive willingness (RW), trust (TR), project-project transfer channels (PPC), project-enterprise transfer channels (PEC), organizational atmosphere (OA), and motivation system (MS). Then, the source of the samples was determined and the data from the respondents was collected for analysis. Following the operation steps of the fsQCA method, variable calibration, single condition necessity analysis, and configuration analysis were carried out. After that, the configurations of influencing factors were obtained and the robustness test was conducted.
Findings
The results of the fsQCA method show that there are five configurations that can obtain better EKT between projects. Configuration 3 (∼TN * ∼TU * TW * RW * TR * ∼PPC * PEC * MS) has the highest consistency, indicating that it has the highest degree of the explanatory variable subset. Configuration 1 (∼TN * ∼TU * TW * RW * PEC * OA * MS) has the highest coverage, meaning that this configuration can explain most cases. Also, the five configurations were divided into three types: vertical transfer, horizontal-vertical transfer, and channel-free transfer category.
Originality/value
Firstly, this study explores the key factors influencing knowledge transfer between projects from four dimensions, which presents the logical chain of influencing factors more clearly. Then, this study divided the five configurations obtained into three categories according to the transfer direction: vertical, horizontal-vertical, and channel-free transfer, which gives implications to focus on both horizontal knowledge transfer (HKT) and (VKT) when studying knowledge transfer between projects. Lastly, this study helps to realize the exploration of combined improvement strategies for EKT, thereby providing meaningful recommendations for enterprises and project teams to facilitate knowledge transfer between projects.
Details
Keywords
Alexander Neff, Patrick Weber and Daniel Werth
The initial observation of this study is the gap of research in the economic application of data spaces in wholesale. With the lowering threshold in using digital technology in…
Abstract
Purpose
The initial observation of this study is the gap of research in the economic application of data spaces in wholesale. With the lowering threshold in using digital technology in innovative services wholesale is confronted with new competition in their main business – the purchase and sale of products in large numbers. Wholesale must advance in their own business creating new digital services for their customers to stay relevant competitors in their markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The design follows an explorative, heuristic and interdisciplinary approach (social sciences and in-formation systems) of a multiple case study combining semi-structured, open and participating observation in three case studies. The cases were set in tourism, construction, as well as manufacturing and were each scientifically accompanied for more than one year during the identification of implementation of strategies for data spaces as digital entrepreneurial path.
Findings
The study shows four strategies in the implementation of data spaces in traditional wholesale. These data spaces have their focus in (1) the traded commodity with two specificities (1a and 1b), (2) the customer and (3) the cooperation of an ecosystem of companies. Each have their own challenges, chances and specifications like the data sovereignty. These strategies are embedded in the behavior of digital entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
This study accompanied and observed the entrepreneurial strategies of three wholesalers discovering new opportunities enabled via data spaces. These three strategies follow different approaches offering potentials for other wholesalers.
Details
Keywords
Vuyokazi Precious Camngca, Christopher Amoah and Emma Ayesu-Koranteng
The construction industry’s daily processes demand heavy data usage and communication between project participants to meet client requirements. Thus, the application of…
Abstract
Purpose
The construction industry’s daily processes demand heavy data usage and communication between project participants to meet client requirements. Thus, the application of information technology in project implementation has been increasing in the construction sector (CS) lately. However, the same cannot be seen in public sectors responsible for implementing government projects in South Africa. This study aimed to investigate the causes and effects of the underutilisation of information communication technology (ICT) in the building section of a public sector in a municipality in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach was adopted for the study, using a public sector in one of the municipalities as a case study. Face-to-face interviews were conducted among the building unit workers, using unstructured interview questions. The data collected were analysed using the ATLAS.ti software.
Findings
The findings indicate a lack of understanding of existing and newly available ICT software and hardware technology among staff within the building technology due to lack of digitalisation in construction projects implementation, inadequate system upgrades, lack of adequate ICT resources, lack of financial resources for internet and software application subscriptions and lack of ICT training leading. The issues mentioned above have led to the outsourcing of projects professionals, slow pace of electronic emails, untrained professionals, usage of different and unlicensed software, resulting in the underutilisation of ICT within the whole building section. This change also adversely affects all officials, especially the junior officials who have graduated using the most recent ICT technology during their studies.
Research limitations/implications
The building department of only one public sector was used for the study; therefore, the findings may not be generalisable. The case study public sector’s name is withheld for confidentiality purposes.
Practical implications
Adequate change management and continuous development, combined with the allocation of proper resources, would be necessary for all staff members. Enormous investments had to be made in the ICT equipment by providing a sufficient budget in the building section of the public sectors. The building section within public sectors should provide change management to all aged skills staff by attending seminars to learn new ICT technology applied within its work environment.
Originality/value
The study established the causes of the underutilisation of ICT in the CS, especially in the public work departments and municipalities, and how this contributes to service delivery.
Details