Search results

This paper establishes a comprehensive basis for understanding the roles and competences of mid-level management and their influence on the effectiveness of continuous improvement (CI) capability within an organisation.

This research builds upon the hypothesis that methods alone do not lead to successful CI capability development. It focuses on the role of mid-level management in driving a CI environment that underpins the effectiveness of CI capability. A reference model for the CI environment is synthesised based on critical literature review, integrating CI culture, CI enablers and CI leadership elements. A comprehensive framework is introduced to define CI leadership roles and competence indicators. A quantitative benchmarking study involving structured interviews with 15 UK organisations was undertaken to collect evidence for a causal relationship between CI leadership competences and CI capability.

Analysis of the benchmarking data provides clear evidence of the causal relationship between the CI leadership competences of mid-level management and CI capability of the organisation. Given that the empirical study was structured on the basis of the CI leadership roles and competences framework introduced in this paper, this also provides validation for the proposed framework and the CI environment model.

The evidence-based knowledge of the positive relationship between the mid-management CI leadership competences and the effectiveness of the CI capability informs strategic organisational development interventions towards enhancing CI capability and effectiveness, ultimately underpinning productivity enhancement and sustainability. The framework for mid-level management CI leadership roles, responsibilities and competences introduced in this paper and grounded in underpinning work undertaken within a large automotive Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), can be adapted by any organisation. The CI environment reference model should provide a comprehensive support for strategists to communicate the framework for CI capability improvement within an organisation, to enhance acceptability and adherence to improvement actions.

This research proves for the first time the significance of the causal relationship between the CI leadership competences and the effectiveness of the CI capability within an organisation, thus filling an important gap between established previous work, focussing on the role of mid-level management on one side and practitioner and team level roles, methodologies and tools. The proposed CI environment model is a theoretical contribution with reference value for both practice and further studies. The comprehensive framework for mid-level management CI leadership roles, responsibilities and competences introduced in this paper provides sound foundation to deliver CI leadership in the workplace.

Representing both “central university administration” and academics, deans are increasingly being confronted with the competing managerial and academic values. Being able to manage the competing values is pivotal to the success of a dean. However, there is dearth of research studying this. Considering the for-profit private sector may face greater challenge in dealing with the competing values, the purpose of this paper is to understand how deans in the private sector have managed this.

A case study was conducted using two exemplar faculties of a private university in Malaysia as sample. The main sources of data are one-year field work which is supplemented by eight years’ archival data.

The findings show that sustainable deans have found a common ground between the competing values. The common ground aligns the central university administration, the deans and the academics, and contributes to the sustainability of the faculties and university.

This paper contributes to addressing the ever-increasing tension between managerial and academic values experienced by the mid-level academic management especially at the for-profit private higher education institutions. The insights of this study enrich the existing knowledge in the area of mid-level academic leadership.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the challenges to women’s authentic leadership identities contribute to their decisions to abandon leadership positions mid-career. It examines the critical career moments and underlying themes behind these women’s decisions to leave.

This paper is based on semi-structured interviews (n = 9) with women between the ages of 32-53 who had opted-out of mid-level corporate leadership positions.

The study found that work–life balance was not the primary factor in women’s decisions to leave. Instead, the women in the study reflected on their inability to be themselves and contribute perceived value to the organization as triggering their decisions to leave.

There are limitations in using a small sample of women selected through the researchers’ social media networks resulting in limited cultural and racial diversity.

Misconceptions about women’s decisions to leave corporate leadership mid-career misleads human resource (HR) practices and initiatives focused on retaining female talent. Organizations need to recognize and reshape the organizational environment to support women to be their authentic self and make the value of their contributions more transparent.

The paper is original in that it examines opt-out from the lens of women’s leadership identities in corporate contexts. There are limited studies that have examined the connections between identity and women’s career decisions beyond work–ife balance. It provides practical value to HR practitioners and organizations focused on retaining female talent.

Universities and higher education institutions (HEIs) are increasingly recognizing the value of coaching for professional and organizational development. This study is designed to investigate whether Cognitive Coaching, implemented as a programme in an HEI in Oman, made any difference to the behaviour and attitudes of employees holding leadership positions in academic, administrative and professional services departments. It also explored the factors that hindered or supported the coaching programme and offers recommendations to strengthen coaching initiatives in similar contexts.

Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect feedback from the 15 participants of the programme. A case study approach was adopted in this study for an in-depth examination of the effectiveness of coaching interventions.

The findings suggest that coaching can be an effective approach, facilitating personal and professional development and also contributing to the achievement of organizational goals.

As a case study of a coaching programme in a single institution, the findings of the study are not generalizable to other contexts, though a “thick description” of the context in which the study took place will enable institutions in similar contexts to draw lessons from the experience.

This study discusses the benefits of a coaching programme for an HEI in the Middle East. Suggestions to strengthen coaching include board level endorsement and sensitivity to cultural nuances in coaching relationships.

One of the effects of a coaching programme is the collegial atmosphere that it can foster. This can have wider impacts on the community as there is more open communication and trust engendered amongst employers and employees belonging to different cultural backgrounds.

This study is one of the first to report the findings of a systematically organized coaching programme in an HEI in the Middle East.

This paper aims to explore the cultivation of a learning culture in the US Navy (USN). The intent of preparing and sharing this research is to reveal the particular challenges of developing learning organization capability in national security organizations. This paper believes this effort will contribute to the evolution and establishment of learning organization models that are replicable across and adaptable to distinct industrial settings.

Several efforts were explored and assessed by applying relevant research in the learning organization literature to trends in current organizational practice within the USN.

Recent USN learning culture efforts align with the broader, multi-sector, global trend toward building learning organizations to develop people as a source of competitive advantage. This research reveals the trials of enabling learning organizations across large, hierarchical bureaucracies with substantial structural and cultural barriers. The myriad obstacles currently being addressed by the USN, both at an institutional level and at smaller organization and unit levels, can inform the development of learning cultures. In particular, this research highlights the need to align specific efforts to the appropriate level of the organization.

This paper contributes to the learning organization conversation by examining the associated challenges through a multi-level framework – top, middle and bottom.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new theory promoting long-term learning among mid-level leaders in schools via simulation training.

The proposed model is derived from the socioecological model, a model that takes into account the multifaceted effects of different disciplines. The proposed interdisciplinary model may be assimilated by considering the ethical-social context of mid-level leaders undergoing simulation training.

A new interdisciplinary model emerges from the original socioecological model. The model's interdisciplinary approach, crossing disciplines such as leadership, management and learning, enables this model to serve as a platform for research that enhances long-term learning among mid-level leaders in schools.

The elicited model, which can be assimilated via simulation training, may enhance long-term learning among mid-level leaders in schools and help to shape educational policy, improve learning and impact the exchange of knowledge between countries.

The emergent interdisciplinary model is expected to foster thinking beyond the traditional boundaries of each discipline and to enhance long-term learning in an ethical context among mid-level school leaders. The model's interdisciplinary approach, which creates new emergent dimensions suited to the challenges of the 21st century, makes this model a unique platform for research and simulation training that enhances long-term learning.

The purpose of this study is to develop a more comprehensive framework that would provide better insight into the characteristics of organisational transformation (OT) of the public sector organisations in the e-government era. Despite the widespread opinion that successful implementation of information communication technology (ICT) is strongly correlated with the appropriate OT of the public sector, a critical analysis of the available literature within the field indicates that this important dimension of e-government development has been dealt with only partially. Accordingly, the paper attempts the following: to develop a more comprehensive framework for observing OT, to empirically explain the framework through analysis of three Slovenian e-government projects and to develop some general characteristics of ICT-induced OT in the public sector.

The development of the framework is based on an analysis of the available literature, whereas the explanation of such is based on a multiple-case study approach.

The paper contributes to a clearer understanding of what the main characteristics of OT in the e-government era are and how they should be observed.

The findings can help researchers to more accurately focus their attention on the most critical aspects of OT. The identified attributes can provide an important basis for future research, particularly from the methodological perspective.

The framework can help public managers to focus their attention on the most important attributes of ICT-induced OT to exploit ICT potentials more efficiently.

The paper attempts to demystify the concept of OT in the e-government field and place it in a more solid theoretical and empirically explained framework.

Talent management (TM) is underdeveloped and TM recognition is unclear in the context of Chinese private‐owned enterprises (POEs). As talent definition is the basis of TM practices, the purpose of this paper is to explore talent definition and TM recognition in the context of Chinese real estate POEs, in order to explore how Chinese cultural context and POEs' characteristics influence talent definition and TM recognition.

In total, 27 semi‐structured interviews were conducted in three case study companies.

Based on qualitative analysis, the paper finds talent definition is influenced by the important Chinese cultural factor “guanxi” and is quite different from existing Western TM literature. TM recognition is also influenced by the Chinese POEs' operation characteristics.

The paper finds a new talent definition criterion, “guanxi”, and identifies TM recognition in the context of Chinese POEs. The paper thus contributes to TM literature in China.

Exploring the understandings of conflict held by Members of Parliament (MPs) provides a meaningful picture of a conflict in a particular society. The aim of the study is to explore the Kurdish conflict understandings among MPs in Turkey.

The current research used Q methodology, which is a suitable method to identify socially shared perspectives and to identify intra- and inter-group differences, and Entman’s (1993) frame analysis to explore subjective understandings of the Kurdish conflict. Data were collected from 23 MPs from four political parties.

The analysis revealed four qualitatively distinct viewpoints: Turkish Nationalist view, Social Democratic view, Conservative-Religious view and Pro-Kurdish view.

This study contributes to the understanding of political parties’ perspectives on the Kurdish conflict in Turkey by representing each political party’s priorities and concerns. The meaning of these priorities and concerns, implications for conflict resolution and the usefulness of the Q methodology for exploring conflict understandings are also discussed.

At the nexus of servant leadership and empathic care, this paper aims to explore the perceptions that mid-level practitioners express regarding the role that servant leadership plays in fostering an environment of empathic care.

The authors surveyed mid-level practitioners across a large integrated health system (n = 167). Through exploratory factor analysis, we identify factors that serve as antecedents to an environment of empathic care. The factor analysis was complimented with partial least squares structural equation modeling to test a theoretical model of empathic care.

The model explains approximately 37% of the variance observed in an empathic care environment (R² = 0.372). The authors identify key constructs within servant leadership that health-care leaders can focus their efforts on to promote an environment of empathic care.

This study answers multiple calls for more empirical research into servant leadership and is one of the few studies that explores servant leadership within an exogeneous context. This research focuses on the perceptions of mid-level providers, whereas most extant servant leadership and empathy research focuses on the perceptions of patients. The authors extend servant leadership theory in a health-care context and support prior findings that servant leadership is a multidimensional construct. The authors outline a sound methodological approach for investigating the linkage between specific principles of servant leadership that can serve as predictors for the creation of an environment of empathic care.