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This paper aims to report findings of up-to-date insights to fill the knowledge gap of lack of theoretical and practical understandings of how knowledge is used in medium-sized enterprises (MEs) for ensuring their performance excellence, healthy survival and growth, particularly using the contextual background of quality improvement as the standing point to concretise the research content and research participants’ mind-set for data collection.

The empirical data were attained by conducting first a multiple-case study and thereafter a structured interview. Insights were obtained through analysing the collected data and triangulating the findings with the contention from the extant literature where available.

A set of approaches for effective quality improvement knowledge (QIK) utilisation in MEs have been identified and attested, as well as prioritised for a clear guidance on their application by practical businesses.

As a pioneering study on the particularly focussed issue, namely, a current knowledge gap – QIK utilisation in MEs, theoretically the research contributes to the enrichment of the current KM and QI literature with a primary focus on knowledge utilisation in MEs. Practically its findings provide insightful guidance to practice on the approaches of QIK utilisation.

Since the data model plays an important role in designing manufacturing execution system (MES) database, this paper seeks to provide a generic and adaptable data model for MES, which can facilitate and improve the MES development.

Extended entity‐relationship (EER) model technique is adopted to build the data model of MES.

Based on MES functions and database requirement analysis, four subject's structures of MES database is abstracted from a system integration point of view. These four structures are independent relatively but also have close interrelation. Each structure is modeled with EER model.

The presented data model mainly focuses on discrete manufacturing MES, which perhaps limits its usefulness elsewhere, and the data model still need further testing in manufacturing enterprises with different scales.

A prototype MES system is developed and implemented, the results show that the proposed EER modeling approach can establish and make clear complex relationships among entities existed in a manufacturing system, which lays the foundation for adaptable and modular MES software development and implementation.

This paper fulfils a fundamental need of designing data model for MES and provides a main framework for developing MES data model, which provides reference for researches both in academia and industry to build specific relational data models for specific needs.

Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on work and employment in contemporary organizations. Covers the human resource management implications of organizational responses to globalization. Examines the theoretical, methodological, empirical and comparative issues pertaining to competitiveness and the management of human resources, the impact of organisational strategies and international production on the workplace, the organization of labour markets, human resource development, cultural change in organisations, trade union responses, and trans‐national corporations. Cites many case studies showing how globalization has brought a lot of opportunities together with much change both to the employee and the employer. Considers the threats to existing cultures, structures and systems.

Globalization has created an increasingly competitive environment in which manufacturers are racing to provide customer‐specific, innovative, and cost‐effective products. One strategic tool that has been seen by many as key to managing these demands, by helping manufactures to leverage real‐time plant‐floor information and so deliver the increased flexibility, visibility and manufacturing control needed, is manufacturing execution systems (MES).

As entrepreneurial top management teams in multidivisional forms are typically treated in pertinent literature as the default organizational solutions for developing dynamic capabilities, the emerging innovative organizational forms tend to be overlooked, even though they could be a viable means of transforming established enterprises. The present case study examines how Haier's microenterprise and platforms influenced the firm's dynamic capabilities development.

The paper presents a qualitative case study of Haier Group Corporation in China.

The findings indicate that Haier employed a loosely coupled relationship between its headquarters and the microenterprises, developed quasi market-based exchange relationships and established peer-to-peer learning opportunities and coordination among its microenterprises. Data analyses further revealed that Haier has adopted three-step routines to capture market opportunities and enhance operational efficiency. This research extends the sensing-seizing-reconfiguration model typically recommended in the existing literature. It also demonstrates that organizational configuration is an important aspect of dynamic innovation. In summary, the study results showcase microdivisionalization as a new way for developing dynamic capabilities to better adapt to the ever-changing market environments.

In summary, our study showcased microdivisionalization as a new way for firms to change the organization structure and business strategies to better adapt to the ever-changing market environments.

Globalisation is generally defined as the “denationalisation of clusters of political, economic, and social activities” that destabilize the ability of the sovereign State to control activities on its territory, due to the rising need to find solutions for universal problems, like the pollution of the environment, on an international level. Globalisation is a complex, forceful legal and social process that take place within an integrated whole with out regard to geographical boundaries. Globalisation thus differs from international activities, which arise between and among States, and it differs from multinational activities that occur in more than one nation‐State. This does not mean that countries are not involved in the sociolegal dynamics that those transboundary process trigger. In a sense, the movements triggered by global processes promote greater economic interdependence among countries. Globalisation can be traced back to the depression preceding World War II and globalisation at that time included spreading of the capitalist economic system as a means of getting access to extended markets. The first step was to create sufficient export surplus to maintain full employment in the capitalist world and secondly establishing a globalized economy where the planet would be united in peace and wealth. The idea of interdependence among quite separate and distinct countries is a very important part of talks on globalisation and a significant side of today’s global political economy.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence of medication errors (MEs) and the factors affecting them among nurses of hospitals affiliated to Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences (KUMS) in 2016.

This is a cross-sectional and descriptive-analytic study. In total, 503 nurses were selected using census method from six hospitals affiliated to KUMS. A self-constructed questionnaire was employed to collect information on nurses’ socio-demographic characteristics (6 items), the prevalence and type of MEs (21 items) and their perceptions about the main causes of MEs (40 items). Data were collected from August 15 to October 15, 2016. In addition, nonparametric and linear regression tests were used to describe the descriptive statistics and analyze the data.

The response rate was 73 percent and the monthly reported MEs per nurse was 6.27±11.95. Giving medication at non-scheduled time (28.4 percent), giving multiple oral medications together (22.4 percent) and giving painkillers after operation without physician’s prescription (15.3 percent) were three types of repetitive MEs, respectively. Gender, work experience, and having a second job affected the total number of MEs. “Long and unconventional nursing shifts,” “changing the dosage of medications for patients under observation due to multiple consultations and different doctors’ orders” as well as “failure to give feedback about the causes of errors to nurses by supervisors” were the three prioritized factors for MEs.

There is a need to reduce MEs in order to improve patient safety. It seems that in order to reduce MEs, systemic and managerial reforms such as reducing the working hours and workload of nurses, giving feedback about the causes of MEs to nurses, and using initiatives to reduce the stress in nurses are necessary.

This paper presents a university service-learning program as an innovative model of assistance to deliver business development services to Mexican microenterprises.

The main objectives were to deliver business development services in situ at no cost to unprivileged enterprises, conduct research on microenterprises development and build up a service-learning model of teaching and learning for students in the field of economics and surrounding disciplines. It was implemented by the Autonomous University of Baja California. It plays an important role in providing real cases and concepts on business, economics, markets and fiscal regulations. The service-learning approach prepare to students to be generous, selfless, problem solvers and job creators.

The experience demonstrates that program can play a key role, both in supporting disadvantaged microenterprises and in providing meaningful learning experiences to students. The program has shown its ability to take advantage of institutional, human and financial resources already released to higher educations institutions (HEI) and government, to support social business extensively, as to make less critical the use of resources in the form of subsidies.

This program was employed by the Mexican State Government of Baja California as a compensatory public policy against the unemployment burden created by the global crisis between 2009 and 2013. About ten thousand individuals pushed to necessity-driven entrepreneurship or informal social enterprises were assisted, trained and formalized in the tax authority by 700 university senior students.

The purpose of this paper is to align the implementation of the manufacturing execution systems (MES) functionalities with the manufacturing competitive dimensions of two companies of the metal-mechanics industry.

The research object comprises two Brazilian manufacturers that use MES. The research method is quantitative modeling. A literature review organized 24 functionalities of MES. The study prioritized the functionalities and the manufacturing competitive dimensions, evaluated the contribution and the quality of the implementation and classified the functionalities.

Two functionalities in the first and five in the second case have high contribution and quality. Three functionalities in the first and six in the second case have low contribution and quality. The first group should be more explored and updated. The second should be discontinued. The rest has intermediate graduations and should be studied case-by-case. The main contribution of the paper is the method, which can be replicated in other applications in the same or in other industries.

The study relies on two case studies of the same industry. Further research shall encompass the entire industry and cases in industries others than the metal-mechanics.

MES users and vendors may benefit from the study as they can apply the method to align the implementation with the manufacturing strategy and therefore enhance the effectivity of the system.

The authors did not find a study that associates the performance or the contribution of the MES functionalities to the competitive priorities with the quality, integrity or consistency of the implementation.

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a way to improve the effectiveness of Islamic micro‐financing in Indonesia.

The approach taken to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of micro‐financing is to point out the change of micro‐enterprises' business performance and then develop a concept based on the research findings and literature review.

The implementation of Islamic micro‐financing, which was preceded by selection process of micro‐enterprises and also accompanied by business control, incentive system, and construct good relationship, is effective in developing micro‐enterprises and improving the household income. However, an integrated program as an effort to improve the effectiveness of Islamic micro‐financing is still necessary.

Micro‐enterprises' development requires not only provision of financing in an interest free‐based system, but it also needs the provision of other services. For the purpose of holistic approach for micro‐enterprises' development and poverty alleviation, the spiritual development, especially via internalizing Islamic moral values in an entrepreneur's consciousness, is also necessary. In addition, poverty alleviation will be successful if Islamic financing is conducted in many areas, and the government takes part in this program.

This paper shows how, in the Islamic perspective, spiritual development is necessary in improving the effectiveness of financing.