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This paper explores the impact of a coach training programme in a UK higher education institution (UKHEI). This paper evaluates the use of coach training to equip undergraduate students with the skills needed to set goals and navigate stressors in personal and professional life.

An interpretivist research design was chosen to gather detailed information about the participants. Data were collected via a multi-method approach comprising participant observations, individual reflections and surveys amongst 18 students. Each method allowed the researcher to interpret the participants' perspectives of social reality.

The inductive analysis revealed three key themes related to the impact of coach training: a greater awareness of self, enhanced relationships with others and a renewed focus on the future. The findings also showed that coach training provided students with a goal-focussed, judgement-free strategy to address issues related to university stressors such as burnout.

The conclusions drawn from the study are placed in the context of the wider coaching debate yet are not generalisable. They illustrate a strong link between coach training and the positive impact on the students increased sense of self, their renewed view of the world and how they want to engage with the training.

The results of this study highlight the need for further research into the impact of coaching and coach training initiatives on UKHEI students. The study also proposes that coaching strategies should be embedded into the curriculum to better prepare graduates to navigate the transition from university life to professional life.

This paper provides empirical evidence of the positive impacts of coach training on UKHEI students. This paper contributes to an understanding of coach training's potential impact on students' engagement in, and enjoyment of, the higher education learning journey. This paper also provides a foundation for future empirical research in this area.

Medication errors are a significant cause of injury in Norwegian hospitals. The purpose of this study is to explore how Lean Six Sigma (LSS) has been used in the Norwegian public health-care context to reduce medication errors.

A mixed method approach was used to gather data from participants working in the four regions served by the Norway health authorities. A survey questionnaire was distributed to 38 health-care practitioners and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 health-care practitioners.

The study finds that the implementation of LSS in the Norwegian public health-care context is still in its infancy. This is amidst several challenges faced by Norwegian hospitals such as the lack of top-management support, lack of LSS training and coaching and a lack of awareness around the benefits of LSS in health care.

Because of the large geographical area, it was difficult to reach participants from all health regions in Norway. However, the study managed to assess the current status of LSS implementation through the participants’ perspectives. This is a fruitful area for future research whereby an action research methodology could be used.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study into the use of LSS methodology in reducing medication errors. In addition, this study is valuable for health-care practitioners and professionals as a guideline to achieve the optimal benefit of LSS implementation to reduce medication errors.

Process improvement initiatives, such as Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma, typically have common characteristics that are carried through projects. Whilst a project’s performance is an important determinant of the successful implementation of continuous improvement (CI) initiatives, its failure can undermine the impact of any CI initiative on business performance. As a result, an understanding of the reasons of process improvement project failures is crucial. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a pilot survey highlighting the most common reasons for process improvement project failures.

This paper presents a pilot survey of 42 Brazilian manufacturing specialists who have been involved in process improvement projects. The participants of this survey were Six Sigma Master Black Belts, Black Belts, Green Belts and Six Sigma champions from manufacturing companies in Brazil. The survey questionnaire was piloted with five experts in the field in order to ensure that the questions were valid and technically sound.

The execution of Six Sigma projects in organizations results in a moderate rate of project failures. These failures can cost organizations several millions of dollars especially within the context of larger organizations. The main reasons for project failure, as cited by the specialists include: resistance to change, lack of commitment and support from top management and incompetent teams.

The authors report the findings from a pilot survey having a limited sample size. Moreover, the data have been collected from one country and primarily from large manufacturing companies.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study looking into the reasons for process improvement project failures. The authors argue that if the top reasons for such failures are understood, a framework can be developed in the future that can mitigate the chance of project failures during project execution. This could potentially lead to significant savings to the bottom-line of many organizations.

The purpose of this article is to analyze how learning occurs in inter-organizational online communities, despite highly diverse even conflicting knowledge claims among participants.

We compared two inter-organizational communities in the domain of development aid through inductive qualitative case study.

We found that diverse communities proved more likely to yield conflicting knowledge claims in terms of expertise, value consensus and formal position. However, they were also better positioned for enabling mutual learning, than communities with a more uniform representation.

We provide theoretical insights for knowledge management by showing how the negotiation of knowledge claims facilitates mutual learning in inter-organizational online communities.

The findings are practically relevant for managers of knowledge-intensive organizations by showing how knowledge is shared in diverse online communities. The research also shows that the recognized challenges which diverse communities can yield are likely to be outweighed by their benefits: enabling mutual learning, generating useful expertise and a stronger negotiating position.

The paper conceives of a development approach that is more inclusive of non-dominant perspectives and solutions in decision-making processes, contributing to improved participation of marginalized people in decision-making processes.

We add a new dimension to knowledge management literature, showing how conflict and learning can be a mutually reinforcing process. Contrary to prior knowledge-based views, we found that a diverse community, with a higher concentration of conflicting knowledge claims, facilitated mutual learning more adeptly than a more uniform community. This is important for knowledge management theory and practice because it shows how inter-organizational communities can benefit from heterogeneity, and how conflict can enable and even strengthen mutual learning.

The purpose of this paper is to describe family intervention (FI) with four families in which the service user is under the care of forensic mental health services. There is a focus on identifying how systemic practice is used or adapted in working with families who have a family member who has presented risk and caused harm.

Four case studies are used to provide a basis for the exploration of commonalities in practice between the cases and the utility of FI within forensic services, which have the dual purpose of promoting mental health recovery and reducing offending/risk behaviour.

Family work can be a key healing tool in the recovery journey of forensic service users and their families. An integrated systemic and psycho-educational FI approach was found to be appropriate in the cases described. Issues particular to forensic services are identified; these include the role of safety planning; the function of talking about the history of trauma in the family including the impact of offending behaviour; mediating difficult relationships between family members and professionals; and overcoming barriers to having difficult and emotive conversations.

The absence of outcome assessments limits the findings to observational data and self-reported experiences from the authors.

FI can be safely and effectively used within forensic settings, facilitated by practitioners competent in working with trauma and complexity, as an integrated component of the therapeutic treatment.

There are recognised barriers to the provision of FI within forensic settings, with limited research regarding the application of such therapies with forensic patients and their families. This paper adds to the small pool of knowledge regarding useful applications of FI in such settings.

The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between child sexual abuse (CSA) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in female inmates in China. A total of 471 participants were assessed for CSA, personality traits, coping strategies, and frequency of lifetime PTSD. Results demonstrated that CSA and negative coping were predictive factors for lifetime PTSD among female inmates after personality traits were controlled. The findings suggest that CSA is one potential factor contributing to lifetime PTSD among female inmates. The importance of screening for CSA among female inmates was highly emphasized. Early intervention and prevention programmes based on coping skills may be useful to forestall the development of chronic PTSD in female inmates.

This paper aims to analyze how the debate around knowledge management for development has evolved over a 14-year period.

The study was conducted in an inductive manner, seeking to identify key themes discussed on an online community on knowledge management for development. Analysis comprised observation of the online debate, as well as semantic (co-word) network analysis of a " big data " set, consisting of 14 years of email exchange. The results were verified with the members of the community in a focus group manner.

In terms of content, the knowledge management for development debate remains strongly engaged with actual development discourse, and it continues to be rather oriented toward tools and methods. In terms of learning, the community appears highly inclusive, and provides fertile ground for in-depth knowledge sharing, but shows less potential for innovative influences.

The study contributes to literature on knowledge management in the non-profit sector by showing how heterogeneous communities in the development domain generate knowledge and shape discourse. More specifically, the paper contributes to knowledge management for development literature by providing a comprehensive overview of how the domain has evolved since its emergence. It also advances knowledge management by showing how inclusive networks can contribute to but also limit learning.

The study is of use to knowledge management professionals by showing not only the benefits but also the limitations of inclusive knowledge-sharing networks.

The study provides important societal implications by showing which topics are most important to development practitioners, covering the period encompassed by the Millennium Goals.

The paper is the first to provide a comprehensive historical overview of the key topics on knowledge management for development, as engaged by the primary online community on this topic. It also introduces innovative methods for inductive analysis of big data.

[1981 was proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Year of Disabled Persons. With the theme “Full Participation and Equality,” the IYDP sought both to promote total participation of disabled persons in all aspects of life and to encourage society to help them function as integrated members of their communities. One purpose of proclaiming such a year, and one means of achieving its goals, is to inform and sensitize the public. The following bibliographies are presented with those purposes in mind.

Retro-marketing is rampant. Throwback branding is burgeoning. Newstalgia is the next big thing. Yet marketing thinking is dominated by the forward-facing discourse of innovation. The purpose of this paper is to challenge innovation’s rhetorical hegemony by making an exemplar-based case for renovation.

If hindsight is the new foresight, then historical analyses can help us peer through a glass darkly into the future. This paper turns back time to the RMS Titanic, once regarded as the epitome of innovation, and offers a qualitative, narratological, culturally informed reading of a much-renovated brand.

In narrative terms, Titanic is a house of many mansions. Cultural research reveals that renovation and innovation, far from being antithetical, are bound together in a deathless embrace, like steamship and iceberg. It shows that, although the luxury liner sank more than a century ago, Titanic is a billion-dollar brand and a testament to renovation’s place in marketing’s pantheon. It contends that the unfathomable mysteries of the Titanic provide an apt metaphor for back-to-the-future brand management. It is a ship-shape simile heading straight for the iceberg called innovation. Survival is unlikely but the collision is striking.

This paper makes no claims to originality. On the contrary, it argues that originality is overrated. Renovation, rather, rules the waves. It is a time to renovate our thinking about innovation. The value of this paper inheres in that observation.

Rising rates of anxiety and depression and the varied costs of these conditions indicate a clear need to create learning environments in which graduate and professional students can more readily thrive. However, the absence of multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary evidence about mental health in graduate education has obscured a clear picture of which populations, contexts and social dynamics merit focused attention and resources. The purpose of this study is therefore to analyze prevalence and risk factors associated with anxiety and depression among a large sample of graduate students, with special attention to how graduate education environments and interactions may be associated with mental health.

This paper offers the first multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary analysis of depression and anxiety among US graduate and professional students. Using a sample of 20,888 students randomly sampled within 69 universities, the author compares depression and anxiety prevalence among fields of study with hierarchical cluster modeling. Then, using a conceptual framework that links social support, role strain and self-determination theories, the author estimates fixed effects multivariate logistic regressions to measure how depression and anxiety are associated with experiencing racial discrimination, support from friends and family, perceived competitiveness in one’s classes, and comfort speaking with one’s professors about mental health.

Graduate students who endure frequent racial discrimination have odds of screening positive for depression and anxiety that are 2.3 and 3.0 times higher, respectively, than those who never experience discrimination. Support from family and friends moderates these relationships and perceived competitiveness exacerbates them. LGBTQ students and students who self-report that finances are a struggle or tight also have higher odds of depression and anxiety. Students in the humanities, arts and architecture have significantly higher prevalence of depression and anxiety than the sample as a whole.

The paper offers broadest base of evidence to date about patterns that are usually experienced at the individual level or analyzed institution-by-institution and field-by-field. Specifically, the author identified social dynamics, fields of study and populations where attention to wellbeing may be especially warranted. The conceptual framework and multivariate results clarify how organizational and individual factors in graduate students’ mental health may be intertwined through competitive, discriminatory, or supportive interactions with peers, faculty, family and friends. Findings clarify a need for awareness of the contexts and interactions that graduate students experience as well as individual factors that are associated with student wellbeing.