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1 – 10 of 557Kim Lombard, Laura Desmond, Ciara Phelan and Joan Brangan
As one ages, the risk of experiencing a fall increases and poses a number of serious consequences; 30 per cent of individuals over 65 years of age fall each year. Evidence-based…
Abstract
Purpose
As one ages, the risk of experiencing a fall increases and poses a number of serious consequences; 30 per cent of individuals over 65 years of age fall each year. Evidence-based falls prevention programmes demonstrate efficacy in reducing the rate and risk of falls among older adults, but their use in Irish occupational therapy practice is unknown. This study aims to investigate the implementation of falls prevention programmes by occupational therapists working with older adults in Ireland.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional survey was used to gather data on the use of falls prevention programmes among occupational therapists working with older adults in any clinical setting across Ireland. Purposeful, convenience and snowball sampling methods were used. The Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland acted as a gatekeeper. Descriptive statistics and summative content analysis were used to analyse quantitative and qualitative data, respectively.
Findings
In all, 85 survey responses were analysed. Over 85 per cent of respondents reported “Never” using any of the evidence-based falls prevention programmes. The “OTAGO” Exercise Programme was the most “Frequently” used programme (9.5 per cent, n = 7); 29 respondents reported using “in-department” developed falls prevention programmes and 14 provided additional comments regarding current falls prevention practices in Ireland.
Originality/value
In the absence of Irish data on the subject, this study provides a benchmark to describe the use of evidence-based falls programmes by Irish occupational therapists with older adults.
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Johanna Lüddeckens, Lotta Anderson and Daniel Östlund
The aim of this case study is to describe what commitment and actions are needed in the Swedish school so that principals — within the Swedish school policy framework and with the…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this case study is to describe what commitment and actions are needed in the Swedish school so that principals — within the Swedish school policy framework and with the goal of creating an inclusive school culture and practice — can positively affect schooling for students with disabilities, with a particular focus on students with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). Three research questions guide the study: (1) What commitment and actions do principals consider important for developing an inclusive school for all students, with a particular focus on students with ASC? (2) How do the principals reflect on their own leadership in the development of inclusive education, with a particular focus on students with ASC? (3) Based on the results, what are the implications of the study in practice?
Design/methodology/approach
As part of a three-step data collection method, a snowball sampling was conducted in which n = 6 principals were initially interviewed and the data analyzed by an inductive thematic content analysis.
Findings
(1) Certain structures are needed when planning how to develop mutual values when organizing an inclusive school involving students with ASC, (2) the principals could, at times, feel a sense of loneliness in relation to their superiors and decision-makers and (3) more accountability from educators and greater consideration for the student perspective in decision-making are needed.
Practical implications
It was found that (1) certain structures are needed when planning how to develop mutual values when organizing an inclusive school involving students with ASC, (2) the principals could, at times, feel a sense of isolation in relation to their superiors and decision-makers and (3) more accountability from educators and greater consideration for the student perspective in decision-making are needed.
Originality/value
Index for inclusion and elements from the inclusive leadership model were used in the data collection and analysis.
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Hannele Kauppinen-Räisänen, Daleen van der Merwe and Magdalena Bosman
The aim of this study is to explore the contextual influences of packaging design and its cues on respondents' preferences.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to explore the contextual influences of packaging design and its cues on respondents' preferences.
Design/methodology/approach
To explore the contextuality of packaging cues, a multi-attribute valuation technique, conjoint analysis was used for two types of pharmaceutical products (painkiller and sore throat medicine) across seven countries. Data were collected among respondents (N = 461) from Finland, Ghana, Mongolia, Nigeria, Portuguese, South Africa and the USA.
Findings
Similarities and dissimilarities were observed between the product types and countries analysed in terms of the impact of packaging cues. The findings demonstrate the global and local nature of brand cues expressed in retail packaging.
Practical implications
The study implies that some cues may serve global markets, while some cues may need to be localised in order to meet the needs of local markets. Understanding these cues and their influences on consumers' brand preferences and choices at the point-of-purchases may enable companies to enter new markets, help them create sustainable and credible global brands.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the existing retail packaging literature and pharmaceutical branding literature by providing empirical evidence of the multidimensional aspects of sensory packaging cues. Second, it contributes by showing the contextual nature of retail packaging and its associated cues for OTC pharmaceuticals.
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Alaric Awingura Alagbela and Jonas Bayuo
School effectiveness has attracted some currency in educational research globally since the 1960s though such studies mostly point to the efforts of principal leadership as the…
Abstract
Purpose
School effectiveness has attracted some currency in educational research globally since the 1960s though such studies mostly point to the efforts of principal leadership as the basis for promoting effective schools. However, in the case of Ghana, there is a lack of research conducted in the area, and due to that, this study sought to explore internal public perspectives of what constitutes school effectiveness in the Colleges of Education in the Upper East Region of Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed the convergent parallel mixed-method design otherwise called concurrent mixed-method design. The population for the study comprised second and third-year students, tutors and leadership of the colleges. In total, 308 respondents constituted the sample size. The breakdown is 257 students in all, 41 tutors and 10 leaders of the colleges. Two instruments, namely, an in-depth interview guide and a questionnaire were used to elicit responses to address the object of this study.
Findings
The study revealed that the characteristics of effective schools include the high academic performance of students and a good show of disciplined behavior by both students and staff in the colleges among others.
Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, during the search for studies conducted on school effectiveness, there is no scientific study done in Ghana highlighting the attributes of effective educational institutions. Most of the studies conducted in the area of educational studies only focused on principal leadership, educational access, participation and equity at the level of pre-tertiary institutions.
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Eda Atasoy, Harun Bozna, Abdulvahap Sönmez, Ayşe Aydın Akkurt, Gamze Tuna Büyükköse and Mehmet Fırat
This study aims to investigate the futuristic visions of PhD students at Distance Education department of Anadolu University on the use of learning analytics (LA) and mobile…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the futuristic visions of PhD students at Distance Education department of Anadolu University on the use of learning analytics (LA) and mobile technologies together.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative research study, designed in the single cross-section model, aimed to reveal futuristic visions of PhD students on the use of LA in mobile learning. In this respect, SCAMPER method, which is also known as a focused brainstorming technique, was used to collect data.
Findings
The findings of the study revealed that the use of LA in mobile can solve everyday problems ranging from health to education, enable personalized learning for each learner, offer a new type of evaluation and assessment and allow continuous feedback and feedforwards; yet this situation can also arise some ethical concerns since the big data collected can threaten the learners by interfering with their privacy, reaching their subconscious and manipulating them as well as the whole society by wars, mind games, political games, dictation and loss of humanity.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited with the views of six participants. Also, the sample of the study is homogeneous in terms of their backgrounds – their age range, their departments as PhD students and their fields of expertise.
Practical implications
The positive perceptions of PhD students provide a ground for the active use of LA in mobile. Further, big data collected through LA can help educators and system makers to identify patterns which will enable tailored education for all. Also, use of LA in mobile learning may stimulate the development of a new education system including a new type of evaluation and assessment and continuous feedback and feedforwards.
Originality/value
The widespread use of mobile technologies opens new possibilities for LA in the future. The originality of this research comes from its focus on this critical point.
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Helge Schnack, Sarah Anna Katharina Uthoff and Lena Ansmann
Like other European countries, Germany is facing regional physician shortages, which have several consequences on patient care. This study analyzes how hospitals perceive…
Abstract
Purpose
Like other European countries, Germany is facing regional physician shortages, which have several consequences on patient care. This study analyzes how hospitals perceive physician shortages and which strategies they adopt to address them. As a theoretical framework, the resource dependency theory is chosen.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted 20 semi-structured expert interviews with human resource officers, human resource directors, and executive directors from hospitals in the northwest of Germany. Hospitals of different ownership types, of varying sizes and from rural and urban locations were included in the sample. The interviews were analyzed by using qualitative content analysis.
Findings
The interviewees reported that human resource departments in hospitals expand their recruiting activities and no longer rely on one single recruiting instrument. In addition, they try to adapt their retaining measures to physicians' needs and offer a broad range of employment benefits (e.g. childcare) to increase attractiveness. The study also reveals that interviewees from small and rural hospitals report more difficulties with attracting new staff and therefore focus on recruiting physicians from abroad.
Practical implications
Since the staffing situation in German hospitals will not change in the short term, the study provides suggestions for hospital managers and health policy decision-makers in dealing with physician shortages.
Originality/value
This study uses the resource dependency theory to explain hospitals' strategies for dealing with healthcare staff shortages for the first time.
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The role of dialogue has recently been identified as being important in generating impact in organisations, but the purposeful use of narrative or story-based approaches to effect…
Abstract
Purpose
The role of dialogue has recently been identified as being important in generating impact in organisations, but the purposeful use of narrative or story-based approaches to effect organisational change and service improvement is still relatively innovative. The purpose of this paper is to document and examine two projects in health and social care settings which aim to generate organisational development and service improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper evaluates and compares two case studies of story-based organisational development and service improvement projects in the UK. This involved developing an appropriate evaluation framework and assessing the impacts in each case using semi-structured interviews and thematic content analysis.
Findings
This paper reports the diversity of impacts and outcomes that were generated by the projects. Specifically, it is argued that there is a strong indication that story-based projects best achieve their objectives when clearly linked to key organisational strategic drivers or pathways, as evidenced by robust evaluation.
Practical implications
This paper recommends that researchers and practitioners, working with story-based methods, design credible and robust evaluative practices, in order to evidence how their work supports organisations to meet current sector challenges. The paper recommends a flexible evaluation framework for evaluating story-based projects in the workplace.
Originality/value
This paper offers new evidence and insight into the impacts and outcomes of using story-based approaches, and a new evaluation framework for these sorts of projects.
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Taofeek Tunde Okanlawon, Luqman Oyekunle Oyewobi and Richard Ajayi Jimoh
The purpose of this study is to assess the barriers to the implementation of blockchain technology in construction supply chain management in Nigeria.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to assess the barriers to the implementation of blockchain technology in construction supply chain management in Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed a quantitative research approach through a questionnaire survey that was conducted among professionals in the Nigerian construction industry using the snowball sampling method, which resulted in a selection of 155 respondents. The collected data were analysed using descriptive and exploratory factor analysis (EFA), while Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the reliability.
Findings
The analysis revealed that all barriers ranked above the average mean item score. It also revealed that all professionals have a convergent opinion on the barriers. EFA was used in clustering the identified barriers into two categories: technological and socio-political barrier.
Research limitations/implications
This research was carried out in the Southwestern region which is one of the six geo-political zones in Nigeria using a cross-sectional survey method.
Practical implications
The findings provide valuable insights into the barriers to the implementation of blockchain in supply chain management for professionals and practitioners in the Nigerian construction industry.
Originality/value
The research categorised the barriers into technological and social-political barrier and identified that lack of digitalisation is the major barrier to the implementation of blockchain technology in construction supply chain.
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Renier Christiaan Els and Helen H.W. Meyer
The successful implementation of quality management in organizations is dependent on people, particularly leaders. It seems as if leaders' affective states (attitudes and…
Abstract
Purpose
The successful implementation of quality management in organizations is dependent on people, particularly leaders. It seems as if leaders' affective states (attitudes and commitment) in the military were connected to their capability to inspire people and a group (corps training unit) to achieve a common goal. The research reported in this article was aimed at examining officers in corps training units' attitudes towards, and commitment to quality management in training in the South African Army.
Design/methodology/approach
Focus group interviews were conducted with a sample of 49 officers on various levels (senior, junior and warrant officers) at six South African Army corps training units.
Findings
The findings indicate that the attitudes of leaders played a significant role to ensure that quality management of training is conducted effectively. Participants experienced that leaders in the South African Army were mostly responsible for the negative attitudes of officers in corps training units. Inadequate leadership support and lack of trust contributed to a lack of transparency and poor communication that resulted in poor commitment among officers at corps training units. The investigation further revealed that a positive affective state (attitudes and commitment) of leaders is essential in ensuring effective quality management of training.
Originality/value
The potential usefulness of this research may provide insight into how leaders' affective state could be improved to ensure effective quality management. This research may also be of interest to other organizations that conduct in-house training.
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Erik B. Landwehr and Carrie A. Lloyd
An exploratory, qualitative multiple case study approach was used to investigate perceptions of leadership through the voice of young (ages 18-24) citizens of St. Lucia, West…
Abstract
An exploratory, qualitative multiple case study approach was used to investigate perceptions of leadership through the voice of young (ages 18-24) citizens of St. Lucia, West Indies.Specifically, investigators were interested in better understanding the young peoples’ leadership beliefs, experiences, and people of influence. Participants perceived leadership to be about helping other people, communication, teamwork, and morality.The most valuable leader development experiences were experiences that the young people perceived were connected to leadership.Participants viewed familiar adults, rather than famous foreigners or youth peers asthemostimportantpeopletoaidinyouthleaderdevelopment.