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1 – 10 of over 24000Effective knowledge management (KM) enables the health care organisations to reach their goals. In modern health care the empowered patients are active partners, whose…
Abstract
Purpose
Effective knowledge management (KM) enables the health care organisations to reach their goals. In modern health care the empowered patients are active partners, whose preferences, needs and values should be taken into account. Shared decision making (SDM) aims at involving the patient and the health professionals as equal partners in care. The purpose of this paper is to present a new model of health care information and knowledge processes (IKPs) as a KM framework. The aim is to scrutinise what types of knowing can be identified the IKPs and how do the knowledge processes support SDM. The role of patients in the IKPs is discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative case study was conducted in two Finnish university hospital districts in integrated care pathways of childhood obesity. In total, 30 professionals and three mothers and children were interviewed 2009-2011 and the findings were supported with a survey (n=13) and document material.
Findings
The findings indicate that the patients and families involvement in the IKPs is modest. This implies that SDM is not completely fulfilled which may affect the families commitment to positive lifestyle changes.
Research limitations/implications
The data of the patients and families were limited due to the challenges with recruitment.
Practical implications
The detailed IKP model enables the health organisations to scrutinise their own IKPs and to identify the shortages in order to change practices.
Originality/value
This paper presents a new model of health care KM which recognises the patients as active partners.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of community of practice in sustaining teachers' participation in a blended (face‐to‐face and online) professional development…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of community of practice in sustaining teachers' participation in a blended (face‐to‐face and online) professional development course.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal multiple‐case study methodology was used in researching groups of five teachers in Australia and four teachers in the UK. The two groups independently participated in an initial face‐to‐face training day and then completed the professional development course via an online learning environment (Blackboard). The course was designed to facilitate community of practice cohesion. Data collection included surveys, data mining of online activity, discussion forums and e‐mails, and semi‐structured interviews.
Findings
The paper finds that the participants of both case studies demonstrated sustained engagement for more than twice the minimum requirement. While the Australian case study was sustained through a community‐defined regime of participation, the UK case study increasingly relied on the course facilitator to broker both practices and a community rhythm by which they could participate. Sustained participation in the Australian case study was supported by mutuality as seen in reciprocity of interaction and social engagement.
Originality/value
Transformative professional development is dependent on a number of design principles, including that it needs to be sustained over time. The literature reveals that neither face‐to‐face nor online professional development, per se, sustains engagement. This research demonstrates that teacher participation can be sustained by designing for community of practice cohesion, in a blended mode of delivery with small groups of participants.
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Leda Kuneva and Karen Latricia Hough
The purpose of this paper is to explore the benefits of co-creation methods when designing information and communications technology (ICT) solutions to aid migrant integration by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the benefits of co-creation methods when designing information and communications technology (ICT) solutions to aid migrant integration by outlining the process of co-creating an innovative platform with migrants, including asylum seekers and refugees, and non-governmental organisation representatives and public service providers.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used mixed methods and was divided into three stages. Researchers carried out an extensive literature review and case studies, whilst data were collected via surveys, focus groups and in-depth interviews.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that co-creation methods are essential in the development of ICT solutions for vulnerable groups like migrants, asylum seekers and refugees enabling researchers to counter the adverse effects of eurocentric bias by improving inclusiveness and trust in the platform vis-à-vis migrant users.
Originality/value
The research reflects on the development of an innovative platform, created and validated in situ with migrants and other end-users. It provides an often-unexplored analysis of the link between methodological approaches in ICT tools development (co-creation), and real-life impacts for migrants in terms of mitigating digital exclusion and white ethnocentric bias. The article complements two whitepapers and other policy briefs written on the results of this research that have informed EC policy-making in the area of migration, including the EU action plan on integration and inclusion 2021–2027.
This paper aims to offer an incremental contribution, augmenting the notion of situated rationality as proposed by terBogt and Scapens (2019). Through insights from empirical…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to offer an incremental contribution, augmenting the notion of situated rationality as proposed by terBogt and Scapens (2019). Through insights from empirical data, the authors explore the role of situated rationalities of key individual actors in processes of management control change.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research approach was adopted with qualitative data collected in a single public service organisation through face-to-face interviews, organisation documentation and observations.
Findings
The findings present the important role of key individual actors in bringing about a new situated rationality in a housing department. External austerity forces combined with actors’ experience rationalities acted as a stimulus to change existing management control practices in the management of public services.
Originality/value
The paper conceptualises “experience” rationality, capturing the experiences of a key actor, including elements of leadership style. Drawing on a story of a complex process of management control change, this paper thus reveals interactions between generalised practices and situated rationalities which were not highlighted by the extended framework of terBogt and Scapens.
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Anna Jerbrant and Tina Karrbom Gustavsson
The purpose of this paper is to situate project portfolio management practice and explore its improvisational nature. The overall aim is to deepen the knowledge of what project…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to situate project portfolio management practice and explore its improvisational nature. The overall aim is to deepen the knowledge of what project portfolio managers do when they manage portfolios based on an organizational theory perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This research explores the situated actions of project portfolio managers managing project portfolios and is based on two different case studies. The approach is qualitative and interpretative, with the aim of gradually developing an understanding.
Findings
The primary contributions in this paper are insights that enhance the understanding of project portfolio management practice, and the differences in practice between portfolio managers and project managers when creating “action space” and improvising. This knowledge is important for both project theory and project practice, for example when developing managerial competences and sense making structures as well as organizational design in order to increase competitiveness. The findings also contribute to project theory in relation to research on the “Practice Turn” and the literature on re‐situating projects.
Research limitations/implications
The research implications emphasize the need for a better understanding of project portfolio management in practice, and an awareness of the need of uncertainty management executed by the portfolio managers situated actions (i.e. fulfilled by walk‐tour and circle communication).
Practical implications
The practical implications are an awareness of the fact that project‐based organizational settings have to emphasize a holistic approach and acknowledge the need for situated leadership (in particular for their project portfolio managers).
Originality/value
This paper fulfills an identified need to study situated project portfolio management practice.
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David Griffiths and Peter Evans
The purpose of the paper is to explore coherence across key disciplines of knowledge management (KM) for a general model as a way to address performance dissatisfaction in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to explore coherence across key disciplines of knowledge management (KM) for a general model as a way to address performance dissatisfaction in the field.
Design/methodology/approach
Research employed an evidence‐based meta‐analysis (287 aspects of literature), triangulated through an exploratory survey (91 global respondents), to gather data on the drivers for KM. The paper attempts to demonstrate self‐similarity across six key KM disciplines using fractal theory as a data analysis tool.
Findings
Appear to demonstrate self‐affinity between key disciplines in the field of KM. This provides a strong signpost for future research in the field when attempting to address practitioner dissatisfaction in performance.
Research limitations/implications
The paper cannot determine importance, or value of the factors discussed. The meta‐analysis allows us to determine the existence of the identified functions and enablers. Limited representation of literature from outside the Northern Hemisphere will not allow for an assertion as to validity outside of this area. Findings could not determine whether factors were stable through time. While outliers in the data provide signposts for further research, it could be attributed to situated variance.
Practical implications
This paper could influence future research and practice through support for the development of general models for the field. It signposts affinity between disciplines, which could direct theorists and practitioners to explore solutions outside of their situated discipline through a shared understanding.
Originality/value
The fractal theory data analysis approach appears to be unusual if not unique in the field of KM. The evidence‐based meta‐analysis provides depth and rigour with the results triangulated against an exploratory survey, which offers a richness of findings that speaks directly to the needs of the field.
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Robert Farrell and William Badke
– The purpose of this article is to consider the current barriers to situating in the disciplines and to offer a possible strategy for so doing.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to consider the current barriers to situating in the disciplines and to offer a possible strategy for so doing.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews current challenges facing librarians who seek to situate information literacy in the disciplines and offers and practical model for those wishing to do so. Phenomenographic evidence from disciplinary faculty focus groups is presented in the context of the model put forward.
Findings
Disciplinary faculty do not have generic conceptions of information literacy but rather understand information-related behaviors as part of embodied disciplinary practice.
Practical implications
Librarians dissatisfied with traditional forms of generic information literacy instruction marketing will find a method by which to place ownership on information literacy in the hands of disciplinary faculty.
Originality/value
The article offers a unique analysis of the challenges facing current information literacy specialists and a new approach for integrating information literacy in the disciplines.
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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate learners' attitudes to the use of simulation‐based e‐learning as part of workplace learning when socially situated interaction and blended…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate learners' attitudes to the use of simulation‐based e‐learning as part of workplace learning when socially situated interaction and blended learning are specifically included in the instructional design.
Design/methodology/approach
Responses to a survey questionnaire of 298 sales personnel were collected and analysed. Additionally, quantitative and qualitative data from 37 sales directors were obtained to further address the research question.
Findings
It was found that a majority of the participants conveyed improvement in their overall level of customer service skills applied in their own work tasks. In addition to the on‐line simulation being an engaging and fun way of learning, the socially situated interaction and blended delivery of the training program encouraged and facilitated discussion and fruitful debates about customer service in the workplace.
Research limitations/implications
This study was limited by its potentially non‐representative sample, representing those who voluntarily participated to improve their sales and customer service skills in one chain bookstore.
Practical implications
A high rate of positive participant responses is attributable to the proper opportunity to supplement learning with practice, achieved through the design features of the program. The work has relevance for other corporate training providers considering incorporating live facilitation into on‐line simulation solutions.
Originality/value
Previously, not much attention has been paid to the use of a coach physically present working with learners using on‐line simulation‐based training, nor to differential benefits such arrangements may provide. Nor were many practical examples of socially situated e‐learning found in the literature. Feedback from both sales personnel and their directors provided a unique opportunity to analyse a work‐based training program using such arrangements.
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Eija Meriläinen, Jacquleen Joseph, Marjaana Jauhola, Punam Yadav, Eila Romo-Murphy, Juliette Marin and Shyam Gadhavi
The neoliberal resilience discourse and its critiques both contribute to its hegemony, obscuring alternative discourses in the context of risk and uncertainties. Drawing from the…
Abstract
Purpose
The neoliberal resilience discourse and its critiques both contribute to its hegemony, obscuring alternative discourses in the context of risk and uncertainties. Drawing from the “ontology of potentiality”, the authors suggest reclaiming “resilience” through situated accounts of the connected and relational every day from the global south. To explore alternate possibilities, the authors draw attention to the social ontology of disaster resilience that foregrounds relationality, intersectionality and situated knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
Quilting together the field work experiences in India, Indonesia, Nepal, Chile and Andean territories, the authors interrogate the social ontologies and politics of resilience in disaster studies in these contexts through six vignettes. Quilting, as a research methodology, weaves together various individual fragments involving their specific materialities, situated knowledge, layered temporalities, affects and memories. The authors’ six vignettes discuss the use, politicisation and resistance to resilience in the aftermath of disasters.
Findings
While the pieces do not try to bring out a single “truth”, the authors argue that firstly, the vignettes provide non-Western conceptualisations of resilience, and attempts to provincialise externally imposed notions of resilience. Secondly, they draw attention to social ontology of resilience as the examples underscores the intersubjectivity of disaster experiences, the relational reaching out to communities and significant others.
Originality/value
Drawing from in-depth research conducted in six disaster contexts by seven scholars from South Asia, South America and Northern Europe, the authors embrace pluralist situated knowledge, and cross-cultural/language co-authoring. Thus, the co-authored piece contributes to diversifying disaster studies scholarship methodologically.
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This study aims to understand independence in internal auditing by investigating how internal auditor independence is constructed when analysed in its corporate governance context.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand independence in internal auditing by investigating how internal auditor independence is constructed when analysed in its corporate governance context.
Design/methodology/approach
A critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the corporate governance reports of Swedish large stock market listed non-financial companies, for three consecutive years, is undertaken, using a theoretical lens of organisational embeddedness and operational coupling to understand independence as a situated practice.
Findings
The study develops four archetypes of internal auditor independence – autarchic, instrumental, symbiotic and subservient – and discusses each archetype's implications for independence, related to tripartite relations with management and the audit committee, regarding who has the mandate to direct work and how the work is done. It finds that internal auditors always have a capacity to be independent. Although they are not independent in relation to agents in the subservient archetype, they are independent of those down the organisational chain of command, suggesting independence is both situational and relational.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis contributes a novel approach to the literature and develops a conception of independence using the dimensions of embeddedness and coupling. The archetypes offer an analytical framework for future studies on independence.
Practical implications
Internal auditors may understand their practice differently through the archetypes that result from this study.
Social implications
Internal auditors' power relations within corporate governance further an understanding of the pressures on internal auditors and their role.
Originality/value
This study contributes new knowledge on the situatedness of independence by showing how internal auditors are embedded and coupled helps build their independence.
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