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This paper aims to examine the strategy, selection and perception of facility management (FM) services and the effect it may have on perceived building quality.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the strategy, selection and perception of facility management (FM) services and the effect it may have on perceived building quality.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected through a survey distributed to board members of cooperatives for newly constructed buildings in Sweden. Responses from 394 cooperative boards were included in the data set and analysed. The difference in cooperative choice of FM strategy and satisfaction with FM services was examined with non-parametrical Kruskal–Wallis tests and the effect of FM strategy and satisfaction with FM services on perceived building quality was examined with a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test.
Findings
The results suggest information asymmetry and indicate urgent need for an objective accreditation system for FM services, which will inform and assist housing owners in the FM selection process. The study validates the hypothesis that facilities management strategies applied by housing cooperatives have a significant effect on perception of building quality.
Practical implications
The findings will assist developers, facility and property managers to understand the needs and services valued by the housing cooperative. The findings highlight the information asymmetry, restricted techniques and weak signalling methods among FM services, and advocates promoting an objective accreditation system for FM services.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the discussion on the concept of building quality and the results presented provide a better understanding of facilities management strategy on perception of building quality.
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Keywords
Ingrid Marie Leikvoll Oskarsson and Erlend Vik
Healthcare providers are under pressure due to increasing and more complex demands for services. Increased pressure on budgets and human resources adds to an ever-growing problem…
Abstract
Purpose
Healthcare providers are under pressure due to increasing and more complex demands for services. Increased pressure on budgets and human resources adds to an ever-growing problem set. Competent leaders are in demand to ensure effective and well-performing healthcare organisations that deliver balanced results and high-quality services. Researchers have made significant efforts to identify and define determining competencies for healthcare leadership. Broad terms such as competence are, however, inherently at risk of becoming too generic to add analytical value. The purpose of this study is to suggest a holistic framework for understanding healthcare leadership competence, that can be crucial for operationalising important healthcare leadership competencies for researchers, decision-makers as well as practitioners.
Design/methodology/approach
In the present study, a critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) was conducted to analyse competency descriptions for healthcare leaders. The descriptions were retrieved from peer reviewed empirical studies published between 2010 and 2022 that aimed to identify healthcare services leadership competencies. Grounded theory was utilised to code the data and inductively develop new categories of healthcare leadership competencies. The categorisation was then analysed to suggest a holistic framework for healthcare leadership competence.
Findings
Forty-one papers were included in the review. Coding and analysing the competence descriptions resulted in 12 healthcare leadership competence categories: (1) character, (2) interpersonal relations, (3) leadership, (4) professionalism, (5) soft HRM, (6) management, (7) organisational knowledge, (8) technology, (9) knowledge of the healthcare environment, (10) change and innovation, (11) knowledge transformation and (12) boundary spanning. Based on this result, a holistic framework for understanding and analysing healthcare services leadership competencies was suggested. This framework suggests that the 12 categories of healthcare leadership competencies include a range of knowledge, skills and abilities that can be understood across the dimension personal – and technical, and organisational internal and – external competencies.
Research limitations/implications
This literature review was conducted with the results of searching only two electronic databases. Because of this, there is a chance that there exist empirical studies that could have added to the development of the competence categories or could have contradicted some of the descriptions used in this analysis that were assessed as quite harmonised. A CIS also opens for a broader search, including the grey literature, books, policy documents and so on, but this study was limited to peer-reviewed empirical studies. This limitation could also have affected the result, as complex phenomenon such as competence might have been disclosed in greater details in, for example, books.
Practical implications
The holistic framework for healthcare leadership competences offers a common understanding of a “fuzzy” concept such as competence and can be used to identify specific competency needs in healthcare organisations, to develop strategic competency plans and educational programmes for healthcare leaders.
Originality/value
This study reveals a lack of consensus regarding the use and understanding of the concept of competence, and that key competencies addressed in the included papers are described vastly different in terms of what knowledge, skills and abilities they entail. This challenges the operationalisation of healthcare services leadership competencies. The proposed framework for healthcare services leadership competencies offers a common understanding of work-related competencies and a possibility to analyse key leadership competencies based on a holistic framework.
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Zainabu Tumwebaze, Juma Bananuka, Twaha Kigongo Kaawaase, Caroline Tirisa Bonareri and Fred Mutesasira
The purpose of this study is to examine the association between audit committee effectiveness (ACE), internal audit function (IAF) and sustainability reporting practices.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the association between audit committee effectiveness (ACE), internal audit function (IAF) and sustainability reporting practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a cross-sectional and correlational design, useable questionnaires were received from 48 financial services firms in Uganda. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences.
Findings
results indicate that ACE and IAF are positively and significantly associated with sustainability reporting practices. ACE and IAF are more significantly associated with economic and social indicators than environmental sustainability indicators.
Research limitations/implications
In terms of practice, it is no longer a matter of having internal auditors and audit committees in place but rather those who are mindful of the welfare of society and the natural environment. The effectiveness of the board audit committee and a functioning internal audit can be assessed in terms of their recommendations and decisions regarding improvements in the welfare of society and the natural environment in addition to the traditionally known performance benchmarks.
Practical implications
The study focuses on only financial services firms in Uganda, and this is a small sample. Future studies may focus on larger samples to enable comparison of the results.
Originality/value
This study provides insights on the initial understanding of the association between ACE, IAF and sustainability reporting practices using evidence from a developing African country – Uganda.
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Jingen Zhou, Shu-Ling (Peggy) Chen and Wenming (Wendy) Shi
The cruise industry has witnessed steady growth, with passenger volume increasing from 17.8 million in 2009 to 30 million in 2019. In the context of global competition and an…
Abstract
Purpose
The cruise industry has witnessed steady growth, with passenger volume increasing from 17.8 million in 2009 to 30 million in 2019. In the context of global competition and an uncertain business environment, competition in business has changed dramatically from battles of “firm versus firm” to “supply chain versus supply chain”. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to understand the cruise industry from a chain perspective, which has not drawn widespread research attention.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper brings together the insights, opinions, concepts and frameworks from a literature review of different disciplines (maritime shipping, tourism management, logistics management, operations management and supply chain management) and analysis results from 22 semi-structured interviews to make an early attempt to conceptualise the cruise supply chain (CSC).
Findings
The cruise supply chain is elaborated on the process, the role of each entity and its characteristics by comparing with the maritime supply chain and tourism supply chain. Based on the understanding of the CSC, two specific characteristics of the Chinese CSC are examined, which need further investigation.
Originality/value
The CSC is articulated with detailed processes and characteristics based on the literature review and empirical study. The findings of this paper not only advance the knowledge of the supply chain in the cruise industry but also highlight the importance of further research on the CSC.
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Roy Liff and Ewa Wikström
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and theoretically explain how line managers and lower-status experts work together in public health-care organizations. Hence, this…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and theoretically explain how line managers and lower-status experts work together in public health-care organizations. Hence, this study explores how lower-status experts influence line managers' decision-making and task prioritizing in order to guide staff experts' cooperation and performance improvements.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a qualitative method for data collection and analysis of the experts' and line managers' explanations about their cooperation. A theoretical approach of experts' identity positioning, in terms of differences and similarities, was used in analyzing the interaction between managers and experts.
Findings
This study shows that similarities and differences in positioning acts exist simultaneously. Similarity is constructed by way of strategic and professional alignment with the line managers' core tasks. Differences stem from the distinction between knowledge-grounded skills and professional attributes such as language, analytical tools, and jargon. Lower-status experts need to leave their entrenched positions and match the professional status of line managers in both knowledge aspirations and appearance to reach a respected approach of experts' identity positioning.
Originality/value
Unlike many previous studies, this study demonstrates that similarities and differences in positioning acts exist simultaneously.
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This research proposes a framework to conceptualise the potential realm of data regarding shipping connectivity for application of data analytics which can be used to generate…
Abstract
Purpose
This research proposes a framework to conceptualise the potential realm of data regarding shipping connectivity for application of data analytics which can be used to generate deeper insights with respect to the state of such linkages and potential areas for practical application.
Design/methodology/approach
The study method involved comprehensive presentation of different perspectives of assessing shipping connectivity and levels of data contained within container shipping services and proposed potential application to analyse profitability, performance, competitiveness, risk and environmental impact.
Findings
Advances in capabilities to handle large volumes of data offer scope for an integrated approach which utilises all available data from various stakeholders in analyses of liner shipping connectivity. Research shows how different types of data contained in container shipping services are related and can be organised for application of data analytics.
Research limitations/implications
Research implications are offered to shipping lines, port managers and operators and policymakers.
Practical implications
This research presented a conceptual framework that captures the range of data involved in container shipping services and how data analytics can be practically applied in an integrated manner.
Originality/value
This paper is the first in literature to discuss in detail the different levels of data that reside within shipping services that constitute liner shipping connectivity for application of data analytics.
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