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In response to the challenge of the ageing of societies and concerns over recruitment and quality of service delivery, many nations have introduced new educational and training pathways, as well as national standards that set a minimum qualification level for residential care staff. In Ireland, national standards were introduced in July 2009 and, against this backdrop this study aimed to explore the level of qualification held or being pursued by non‐nursing care staff.

An email/postal survey was conducted.

This survey revealed that while vocational qualifications were most common, more than 50 per cent of care staff neither held nor were pursuing the minimum qualification set by the standards.

While the introduction of standards may address this situation, the workforce appears currently ill‐prepared for increasing professionalisation. Moreover, given Ireland's poor economic circumstances, training or supports are likely to be limited, with the burden of training liable to fall on staff, undermining morale and increasing already tense industrial relations. Limitations of this study include variations in the roles of non‐nursing care staff, with many staff classified as “multi‐task” staff that perform a range of duties from personal care through to more general domestic duties and, in the context of a mixed economy of provision, the abundance of responses from the public sector relative to the private sector.

Nonetheless, this study provides a timely snapshot and a reference point for further research around the impact of standards on quality of care or workforce professionalisation and it will be of particular interest to policymakers, regulators, employers and care staff.

The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a research project designed to determine the qualifications held by those staff who had perpetrated abuse in private sector care and nursing homes for older people during a 12-month period.

A self-completion, postal questionnaire was issued to the safeguarding teams of all local authorities in England with adult social care responsibilities to determine the qualifications held by staff who were proven to have perpetrated abuse in these facilities.

Though findings with respect to qualified nurses who had perpetrated abuse when considered in isolation were inconclusive in numerical terms, the proportion of all nursing and care staff who had perpetrated abuse, and who held either a professional or vocational qualification was high.

Responses to the postal questionnaire represented 21.8 per cent of local authorities with social services responsibilities, yet the data secured suggests that care providing staff who have received recognised training are disproportionately represented among those proven to have perpetrated abuse.

Findings indicate that recognised training for those who provide care in care and nursing homes is of limited efficacy in the prevention of abuse.

Training is seen as a key to improved individual performance and service quality in a number of areas, notably social care. New regulatory standards in care include targets for staff training and qualifications. Current thinking about learning at work suggests that learning is indeed critical to improved performance, but emphasises a move away from a focus on training to an approach that embeds learning in ongoing work activity. This article explores the key lessons from the workplace learning literature and research, and considers the implications for supported housing and care organisations.

This paper reports a study that examines the role of the internal audit function as a cornerstone of corporate governance, on economic growth.

Data were obtained from 108 countries for the period 2011–2015. The World Bank, the Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation and the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index were the data sources. Two statistical techniques were used: regression analysis to test the study hypotheses and the Chi-squared test to determine whether variations between countries.

The findings suggest that conformance with internal audit standards and maturity (in years) of the internal audit department contribute to economic growth. They also reveal a relationship between the professional standing of internal audit staff (represented by professional qualifications and number of training hours annually) and the contribution to economic growth, that being that the greater the professional standing of staff, the greater internal audit conformance to the standards and the higher the contribution to economic growth. Further, the findings reveal that the impact of internal audit on economic growth varies among countries according to income classifications.

The consideration of internal audit as one of the four fundamental bases of corporate governance, and therefore, its relationship with economic growth is a neglected topic in the research arena. This study addresses that shortcoming by providing worldwide evidence on the contribution of internal audit to economic growth and, thus, makes a new contribution to the literature. Further, evidence is provided to enlighten poorly performing economies of the value of mandating the presence of internal audit and the compliance of it with international internal audit standards.

An investigation of personnel management in Kuwaiti libraries prior to the Gulf War showed that serious problems existed in most libraries. Describes a further study which was therefore carried out to try to define actions which might help to alleviate these problems. A soft‐systems methodology was used for the first time in this context: the approach seems generalizable to most situations involving library personnel management. Subsequent discussion of the study with senior library management in Kuwait was delayed by the advent of the Gulf War. However, the changed conditions in Kuwait brought about by the war are found to have imparted particular significance to the conclusions and to their implementation.

Reciprocal abuse inside care practices remain under-studied due to their invisibility and further research is required. The purpose of this paper is to explore different levels of conflicts inside organisations.

The paper is based on a self-administered questionnaire filled out by care workers (n = 150), in 16 Portuguese care homes.

Results indicated that, overall, 54.7% of care workers had observed abuse, in their daily practice, in the preceding 12 months: 48.7% psychological; 36.0% neglectful care practices; 14.0% physical and 3.3% financial abuse. The figures decreased significantly as regards abuse committed themselves, with 16.7% of those admitting to having committed at least one of these behaviours. The highest figures were also recorded for psychological abuse (13.3%) and neglect (6.7%). However, there is a statistically significant relationship between abuse committed by care workers and abuse committed by residents. Overall, 52.0% of care workers reported having been the target of at least one such behaviour by residents.

This paper has its limitations as the sample consisted of only 16 nursing homes (12 not-for-profit and 4 for-profit nursing homes). The fact that only 4 of the 16 LTC homes were for-profit is a potential limitation both in general and in particular because research has shown that lower quality of care and elder abuse and neglect are more common in for-profit nursing homes at least in Portugal. The results were also based on self-reported measures.

A reactive behaviour, the risk of retaliation, after a complaint, the difficulty in dealing with dementia and the residents' aggressive behaviour, an absence of a training and support policy in an environment where difficult working conditions prevail, are factors enhancing a reciprocal process of abuse. The analysis followed by a discussion of potential implications to prevent institutional elder abuse and neglect, based on communication and social recognition, including better working conditions and training, and a cooperative work environment.

Conflict is much more than reducing an interpersonal relationship problem between residents and staff (care workers, professional staff, managers) and extending to the whole organisation. Therefore, there are still uncertainties on how organisations, staff and residents interact between themselves, and affect care practises.

Reciprocal abuse in nursing homes is an important area of research and this paper enabled a discussion of potential implications concerning the quality of care, which required the identification of levels of conflict, in an organisational system, including interactions, the context where care is provided, difficult working conditions, lack of training and levels of support. All these factors are important when considering elder abuse and neglect and this calls for special attention by policymakers and researchers.

This paper seeks to examine the strategies social enterprises can use to scale up their impact. A traditional view has been for growth to occur through expanding operations or setting up new sites owned by a single organisation. However, a range of other strategies of scaling impact outside of organisational boundaries is explored.

The paper is based on an analysis of one detailed and three less intensive case studies of social enterprises in the early years sector supporting children and families. These were selected purposefully to represent a cross section of types of organisation. In the detailed case study, interviews were conducted with ten nursery managers, four of the senior management team and other key stakeholders.

This paper examines alternatives for scaling up social impact ranging from maximising the impact internally (through new activities, and more sites) to growth beyond the confines of the organisation (through social franchises, use of kite marks, training and networks).

The paper proposes a framework to help define the strategies by which organisations can scale up their social impact. The potential impact grows when considering scaling though partnerships, relationships and dissemination of ideas, but with this increase in scale, there is a loss of control by the original innovator. The research is of value to organisations wanting to scale up and for policy makers wanting to identify suitable strategies for encouraging growth and replication.

The purpose of this paper is to review the police literature, select agency reports, and media publications to examine issues involving police use of Tasers^™

The focus of inquiry is on questions of policy development, deployment, training, use and impact of Tasers from organizational and community perspectives.

Limited research reflects a lack of consensus in the development and application of policies related to Taser training and use. Variations in policy and training and the substitution of Tasers for other technologies across the use‐of‐force continuum result in operational inconsistency. This inconsistency makes it difficult to compare police departments in terms of the impact of Tasers on improved officer and citizen safety and reductions in the use of lethal force. This inconsistency is also reflected in media reports and has the potential to jeopardize community relations. Key policy issues center on length and content of training, training staff qualifications, and substitutions on the use‐of‐force continuum. Further study of Taser policy development, implementation, and evaluation is necessary to build a substantial and reliable body of knowledge to inform safe and effective police policy. Additional research is needed to evaluate the organizational and community implications of Taser implementation.

Evidence‐based Taser policy development is necessary to maintain the integrity of the technology, protect officer and citizen safety, and encourage the use of less‐than‐lethal force.

This paper calls attention to the dearth of research on Taser use in policing, while discussing the challenge of implementing new weapon technologies into the police arsenal and the need for careful consideration of use‐of‐force substitution practices.

The purpose of this paper is to report on an empirical research study which investigated the factors influencing productivity in hotels in Northern Cyprus.

The empirical data was collected via a structured questionnaire from middle and senior managers of four and five‐star hotels in Northern Cyprus.

According to the research findings staff recruitment, staff training, meeting guest expectations, and service quality are the main productivity factors in hotels; while crises, technology, marketing, and forecasting are ranked relatively low. It emerged from the findings that hotel managers in Northern Cyprus have a narrow view of productivity and follow a more input‐oriented approach to managing productivity.

Based on the research findings and their discussions, this study provides several recommendations for future research in this area.

The research results highlight the importance of training middle and senior managers about the importance of productivity and how they can follow output‐oriented productivity management strategies.

The literature on productivity management in small island hotels is limited. As being one of the first studies on this area, the research findings of this study are particularly valuable for practice and future studies.

In most European countries there is a range of quality control system mechanisms, however, poor quality and institutional violence can be found in the residential sector. Taking Portugal as an example of a country that uses an inspection-only approach, this paper focuses on the monitoring system for controlling the quality of care in nursing homes. The purpose of this paper is to analyse how mistreatment of older people is identified and dealt with by the national social security services. In particular it looks at what the indicators are with which to assess poor quality care and mistreatment (how it is perceived and defined), which factors affect mistreatment of older people and intervention outputs (i.e. what are the sanctions to prevent and combat this).

An exploratory approach was based on a mixed method, using a database of 3,685 complaints reported to the social security inspection services. To understand the context of the complaints and the assessment of institutional violence, focus groups were carried out with inspectors from the National Inspection Service.

The focus groups identified severe situations of poor care, mistreatment of older people and loss of human rights and dignity. Some indicators were found in key areas of care and the factors associated with this were based on Kamavarapu’s typology (2017): physical conditions of facilities; closed organisational models; difficult working conditions; and perceived concerns of residents. Monitoring and inspection systems are still based on minimum standards focusing on structural and process quality, devoting little attention to the human rights situation of older persons and clinical issues.

The number of participants in the focus groups was limited in size but the uniqueness of this exploratory method draws a dark picture of non-licensed nursing homes in Portugal.

An exploratory analysis was useful to identify institutional violence and discuss potential implications, in terms of effectiveness of quality care control, which calls for special attention by policy makers and researchers when monitoring the human rights of older persons.