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The purpose of this paper is to examine the idea of getting lost during field studies as a point of departure for reframing the initial research question.

The paper presents field notes and reflections to illustrate the process of tracing innovation in the field by means of a theoretical concept – “knot-working” as proposed by Engeström (2008). By paying attention to seemingly irrelevant empirical data and experiences of being lost, the author infuses another theoretical concept – “not-knowing” as proposed by Lather (2007).

By questioning research questions, it becomes possible to challenge conventional assumptions in the field under study as well as assumptions underlying existing theory. It is argued that good research questions evolve iteratively throughout a study and might be even more valuable than answers (Alvesson and Sandberg, 2013). The paper illustrates how not-knowing can serve as a methodological perspective from where ordinary held assumptions can be reconsidered, thus paving the way for novel research questions that can enhance established theory.

The paper questions the initial research question: “How is the elderly care sector affected by innovation imperatives,” and ends up posing the reverse question: How are innovation imperatives affected – or how could they be affected – by the notion of care.

The purpose of this article is to test whether healthcare accreditation survey processes are reliable.

The study uses multiple methods to document stakeholder experiences and views on accreditation survey reliability. There were 29 research activities, comprising 25 focus groups, three interviews and a survey questionnaire. In total, 193 stakeholders participated; 134 in face‐to‐face activities and 56 via questionnaire. All were voluntary participants. Using open‐ended questioning, stakeholders were asked to reflect upon accreditation survey reliability.

Stakeholders perceived healthcare accreditation surveys to be a reliable activity. They identified six interrelated factors that simultaneously promoted and challenged reliability: the accreditation program, including organisational documentation and surveyor accreditation reports; members' relationship to the accrediting agency and survey team; accreditation agency personnel; surveyor workforce renewal; surveyor workforce management; and survey team conduct including coordinator role. The six factors realised shared expectations and conduct by accreditation stakeholders; that is, they enabled accreditation stakeholder self‐governance.

Knowledge gained can be used to improve accreditation program reliability, credibility and ongoing self‐governance.

The paper is a unique examination of healthcare accreditation surveys the reliability. The findings have potential application to reliability in other healthcare areas.

This theory development paper argues that activity theory, as a theory of practice, can help overcome long-standing challenges in the field of information systems (IS) by better accounting for the material in work and social activity. It also suggests ways in which IS research can inform the development of activity theory. The purpose of this paper is to be forward looking as much as reflective to advance an enlarged understanding of activity theory, and argue for its development in IS studies.

The paper is conceptual and draws upon existing literature and research to propose and cultivate an updated understanding of activity theory as a theoretical lens capable of accounting for social and technical aspects in IS.

The paper has three aims. First, to cultivate the use of activity theory in IS. It elaborates on the use and contribution of activity theory in IS, charts it’s use over the last 20 years and discusses how it brings together a range of ideas that have been neglected in other social theories. Second, to explore the challenges surrounding the use of activity theory in understanding interaction between actors and technology. Third, to set an agenda for its advancement in IS, to ruminate upon future research concerning the extension of activity theory and develop a “fourth-generation” activity theory.

The paper presents the first attempt to juxtapose activity theory with other theoretical philosophical perspectives; to chart the use of activity theory in IS over the last 20 years; and, to discuss how activity theory brings together a range of ideas that have hitherto been excluded from – or inadequately formulated in – other contemporary social theories.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a boundary spanning, interprofessional collaboration between advanced practice nurses (APNs) and junior doctors to support junior doctors’ learning and improve patient management during the overtime shift.

A mixed methods evaluation of an intervention in an adult tertiary referral hospital, to enhance interprofessional collaboration on overtime shifts. Phase 1 compared tasks and ward rounds on 86 intervention shifts with 106 “regular” shifts, and examined the effect on junior doctor patient management testing a model using regression techniques. Phase 2 explored the experience of the intervention for stakeholders. 91 junior doctors participated (89 percent response rate) on 192 overtime shifts. Junior doctors, APNs and senior medical professionals/administrators participated in interviews.

The intervention was associated with an increase in self-initiated ward rounds by junior doctors, partially explained by junior doctors completing fewer tasks skilled nurses could also complete. The intervention significantly reduced doctors’ engagement in tasks carried over from day shifts as well as first year (but not more experienced) junior doctors’ total tasks. Interviews suggested the initiative reduced junior doctors’ work pressure and promoted a safe team climate, situation awareness, skills, confidence, and well-being.

Junior doctors overtime shifts (5 p.m. to 11 p.m.) are important, both for hospitals to maintain patient care after hours and for junior doctors to learn and develop independent clinical decision making skills. However, junior doctors frequently report finding overtime shifts challenging and stressful. Redesigning overtime shifts to facilitate interprofessional collaboration can improve patient management and junior doctors’ learning and well-being.

The aim of the paper is to analyze the process of “germ cell” formation by framing it as an opportunity for promoting organizational learning and transformation. The paper aims to specifically answer two research questions: Why does the “germ cell” have a pivotal role in organization’s transformation? and Which conditions facilitate the formation of the “germ cell” in the management of complex and uncertain problems?

The paper answers the research questions first by presenting the literature related to knowing and learning inside organizations, and second by introducing the concept of “germ cell” and connecting it with the metaphors of “waiting experiment” and “anchoring forward”. Finally, the paper analyzes the steps by which the “germ cell” is shaped, thus owing to the exploration of problematic situations, underpinning the “germ cell’s ” role to open perspectives for multiple applications and development. Two research interventions are presented by focusing on the construction of the “germ cell” moving from the problematic situations to promote organizational learning and change.

The paper describes the formation of the “germ cell” as a process that opens possibilities for subjects to recognize and reflect on the recurrent and taken-for-granted practices and concepts and give sense to them by making the inner contradiction and the ways for managing it visible.

The unfolding and challenging inceptive configuration of the germ cell sheds light on the discursive/conversational/language processes and the activities entangled in socio-material instrumentalities and environments in which people are involved.

Whereas the Minister of Labour (hereafter in this Order referred to as “the Minister”) has received from the Rope, Twine and Net Wages Council (Great Britain) the wages regulation proposals set out in Schedules 1 and 2 hereof;

Devotes research to the psychophysiological study of mechanisms of the functional state regulation in children with minimal mental dysfunctions and a control group of normal children. Interprets the data with the help of a cybernetic model developed by R.M. Baevsky. Opines that the changes in heart rate indicate changes in the central nervous system directed to the adaptation of an organism to fulfilment of offered mental tasks. Offers a hypothesis of inadequate regulation of functional state in the children with minimal mental dysfunction based on the study of the maturation of the heart rate control system and ontogenetic development of attention and time perception functions.

THE SKF oil injection couplings type OK‐HB, are compact and easy to mount and have been very much appreciated in the shipbuilding industry. Some propeller shafts have to be moved astern during inspection and maintenance and are, therefore, constructed without flanges. The interference fits which join the sections of the shaft systems must be very secure, as they are subjected to considerable torque. One SKF oil injection coupling, the OK 750 HB, per shaft system is used in the world's largest tanker, the 550,000 dwt Batillus. As each coupling is subjected to a maximum torque of 3,000 kNm but is able to transmit 11,000 kNm the safety factor is more than satisfactory.

This case study is an attempt to understand the experience of a school principal, Arnulfo. The research question is: what are the challenges of one first‐year school director in Baja California, Mexico?

Arnulfo participated in an interview and five focus groups at the Ensenada State Normal School. He kept a journal of incidents completed during April‐July 2006. A team of three researchers helped to write the case study. One researcher collected the data and wrote a summary in Spanish. A second researcher organized the material and translated it into English. The third researcher criticized and reviewed the write‐up.

Arnulfo faced a variety of challenges, but the burden of paperwork was the most serious. It can be understood on a number of levels. Bolman and Deal's four frames to understand organizations and leadership help to explain the complexity in terms of structural, human resource, symbolic, and political. The political frame was Arnulfo's greatest strength. He advocated for the school, formed alliances with parents, and took action to get the support of others.

The analysis, if confirmed by broader studies with larger samples, would lead to several recommendations for educational administration preparation. Principals need to know about the structural tasks of paperwork; maintain relationships with supervisors to assure adequate support; understand the symbolic culture in which they work, and become savvy in the ways of politics.

The International Study of Principal Preparation will compare findings and offer perspective on the extent to which these issues are representative of challenges that directors face in eight other countries.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the practices used by Australian re-enactors to achieve authenticity, a communally agreed measure of acceptability in the creation of an impression, the dress, behaviours and accoutrements of the period, through the concepts of serious leisure and information practices.

Re-enactment is a practical, information-based performative activity. In this paper, the research styles and decision-making processes developed and employed by its enthusiasts to create authentic impressions are examined through an ethnographic case study.

The re-enactors are identified as “makers and tinkerers”, in Stebbins’s categorisation of serious leisure. Research, documentation and the sharing of information, knowledge and skills are common practices among re-enactors and acknowledged as integral to the processes of creating an impression to a collectively agreed standard of authenticity. Re-enactors’ “making” includes not only the creation of the impression but also the documentation of their process of creating it. They prize individual knowledge and expertise and through this, seek to stand out from the collective.

Although communities of re-enactors are often studied from a historical perspective, this may be the first time a study has been undertaken from an information studies perspective. The tension between the collective, social norms and standards that support the functioning of the group in understanding authenticity, and the expert amateur; the individual with specialist skills and talents, encourages a fuller investigation of the relationships between the individual and the collective in the context of information practices.