Search results

The purpose of this paper is to present the effect of the introduction of cross-functional team (CFT)-based organization, rather than, on planning and performance of OR teams.

In total, two surgical departments of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center (RUNMC) in the Netherlands were selected to illustrate the effect on performance. Data were available for a total of seven consecutive years from 2005 until 2012 and consisted of 4,046 OR days for surgical Department A and 1,154 OR days for surgical Department B on which, respectively 8,419 and 5,295 surgical cases were performed. The performance indicator “raw utilization” of the two surgical Departments was presented as box-and-whisker plots per year (2005-2011). The relationship between raw utilization (y) and years (x) was analyzed with linear regression analysis, to observe if performance changed over time.

Based on the linear regression analysis, raw utilization of surgical Department A showed a statistically significant increase since 2006. The variation in raw utilization reduced from IQR 33 percent in 2005 to IQR 8 percent in 2011. Surgical Department B showed that raw utilization increased since 2005. The variation in raw utilization reduced from IQR 21 percent in 2005 to IQR 8 percent in 2011.

Hospitals need to improve their productivity and efficiency in response to higher societal demands and rapidly escalating costs. The RUNMC increased their OR performance significantly by introduction of CFT-based organization in the operative process and abandoning the so called functional silos.

The stepwise reduction of variation – a decrease of IQR during the years – indicates an organizational learning effect. This study demonstrates that introducing CFTs improve OR performance by working together as a team.

The aim of this paper is to describe the factors that contribute to understanding how collaboration improves performance in operating rooms (ORs) after introducing the concept of cross‐functional OR scheduling teams.

The concept was investigated at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center (RUNMC) in The Netherlands and used on an innovative path based on socio‐technical systems (STS) principles designed to address non‐routine tasks, variety, interferences and errors related to OR scheduling, with the aim of increasing both staff productivity and patient safety. The effects of implementing preoperative cross‐functional teams in the OR were compared qualitatively. The researcher observed all of the team meetings, available data and documentation, and 13 semi‐structured interviews were performed with team members for collecting additional data.

In the literature, it was found that the theory of socio‐technical systems and the fields of group dynamics and self‐managing teams fit the OR setting. The author applied six elements of these theories (setting common goals, cohesion, openness, single‐loop and double‐loop learning, feedback, and control options) to the aspects found in the study. The qualitative findings revealed that high‐performing teams were able to identify bottlenecks in order to improve continuity of care. The cross‐functional teams used several performance indicators to gain insight into their own performance. Consequently, through collaboration, these teams were able to minimise interference and therefore learn. Cross‐functional teams learned how to address interferences and improve their quality of service through improved collaboration and the improved use of control mechanisms.

This research highlights the importance of team‐based approaches and the need to improve collaboration between healthcare professionals.

The paper confirms the value of implementing the socio‐technical systems theory to improve collaboration between healthcare professionals. This case study is a valuable contribution, as it focuses on team‐based organisation in preparing an OR schedule.

The position of these Irish agitators is illogical and untenable; the remedy they propose is no remedy at all – nevertheless they are talking about the tenure of land and the right to land; and thus a question of worldwide importance is coming to the front.³

Leadership is basically about influence and ability to cultivate followership. This chapter examined the nature of indigenous socio-political leadership in Africa using Zimbabwe, Sudan and Nigeria as caselets and compared this with the post-colonial or modern-day leadership realities. A survey was conducted among senior executives at Lagos Business School, Nigeria, with a sample size of 200 persons, to find out their perception of the African indigenous leadership system. An overwhelming 90% believe that culture plays a big role in shaping African leadership style. However, two-thirds of the respondents agreed that Africa lacks proper institutional structures to support good leadership, thus encouraging corruption (97% of the respondents) and non-accountability among the leaders. Also, only 5% thought cultural orientation was the reason why the African followers do not hold their leaders accountable. In other words, it is not in the African culture not to hold leaders accountable for their actions. So, what went wrong? We attempted a deeper look at the effect of colonial rule and the attendant militarisation of the African continent. Our conclusion is that the colonisation of the continent by Europe brought significant distortion to the traditional African indigenous leadership institutions and the psyche of the African leader and the followers alike. Post-colonial Africa has witnessed 133 recorded coups d’etat between 1952 and 2016. This chapter is recommended to all those who seek a deeper understanding of the nature of the African indigenous leadership practices and the factors that have shaped these over the years.

Our Dublin correspondent telegraphed last night:

A considerable body of literature has shown how the perception of flavor is the result of a multi-sensory combination. Starting with this premise, this paper aims to verify how music impacts on wine flavor.

An experiment was organized as follows: it focuses on the influence of music on the taste of red and white wine, in particular, two kinds of music were transmitted, namely, classical and pop. Participants had to listen to music through headphones tasting, in the meanwhile, 40 mL of wine (an merlot and a chardonnay). After this experience, they had to give an evaluation about some attributes of the wine. The attributes to be evaluated were: sparkling, refreshing, delicate, refined, sweet, sour, alcoholic and pleasant. Data were finally analyzed by using the ANOVA model.

They highlight that a chardonnay is perceived to be more delicate and sweeter if accompanied by a classical music background; in the case of Merlot, on the other hand, it is perceived as less alcohol when high-volume pop music is transmitted. Implications are finally discussed.

The influence of hearing on taste is underestimated in the literature. The originality of this manuscript consists of comparing two different music genders and their impact on wine consumers in an Italian context. Moreover, the analysis of marketing implications represents a novelty for these kind of studies.

This article aims to provide a qualitative analysis of the diversity management challenges of professionals in corporate America. A specific focus is on the differential outcomes of women and ethnic minorities and their equal employment opportunities in the workplace.

This paper examined the workplace experiences of 42 African‐American and Caucasian men and women in corporate America. Semi‐structured interviews were held to discover diversity management issues unique to these groups.

It was found that challenges supported a priori assertions of organizational culture, discrimination/stereotyping, and human capital investments. Each of these challenges impacted members in qualitatively different ways that may account for the variability in work experiences and outcomes. While there were some consistent themes, the findings demonstrated significant within race and between gender differences.

Qualitative studies provide in‐depth information and a deeper understanding about phenomena which allows one to capture general themes that can be obscured in survey research. The intersection of race and gender provides unique findings that should be considered in future research. The use of self‐reported perceptual data without triangulation can limit the generalizability of the study but does provide a view in the language and emotion of the individual who is sharing his/her workplace experience.

The findings demonstrate that diversity management practices need to consider race, gender, as well as multiple group memberships (e.g. African‐American women) which reveals unique issues to be addressed within organizational contexts. There are also differences within race, by gender, in the ways that individuals experience the workplace. The findings provide insight for managers to aid in diversity management and retention.

Race is socially constructed and has a political rather than biological basis for determining it. Racial categories in one country which limit an individual's power, influence, freedom, and clout may be very different than categories in another country or political context. Because race is socially constructed, individuals may increase or lose power, privilege, influence and status as they move from one sociopolitical context/power structure in one country to another.

This research provides an additional lens through which to examine the workplace experiences of women and minorities to aid managers in deriving the maximum benefit in a diverse, well‐qualified labor force.