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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 17 March 2023

Charlotta Winkler

This paper aims to explore the process of implementing solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in construction to contribute to the understanding of systemic innovation in construction.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the process of implementing solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in construction to contribute to the understanding of systemic innovation in construction.

Design/methodology/approach

The exploratory research presented is based on qualitative data collected in workshops and interviews with 76 construction- and solar-industry actors experienced in solar PV projects. Actor-specific barriers were identified and analysed using an abductive approach.

Findings

In light of established definitions of systemic innovation, the process of implementing solar PV systems in construction involves challenges regarding technical and material issues, competencies, and informal and formal institutions. The specificities of this case highlight the necessity of paying attention to details in the process and to develop knowledge of systemic innovation in construction since the industry’s involvement in addressing societal challenges related to the energy transition will require implementing such innovations much more in the future.

Practical implications

New knowledge of solar PV systems as an innovation in professional construction is collected, enabling the adaptation of management strategies for its implementation. This knowledge can also be applied generally to other challenges encountered in highly systemic innovation implementation. Solar industry actors can gain an understanding of solar-specific challenges for the construction industry, challenges for which they must adapt their activities.

Originality/value

The exploration of actor-specific experiences of solar PV projects has resulted in a novel understanding of this specific innovation and its implementation. The findings illustrate a case of a high level of systemic innovation and the need to use a finer-grained scale for classification when studying innovation in construction.

Details

Construction Innovation , vol. 24 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-4175

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 August 2021

Barbara Orser, Xiaolu (Diane) Liao, Allan L. Riding, Quang Duong and Jerome Catimel

This paper aims to inform strategies to enhance public procurement opportunities for women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To do so, the study examines two…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to inform strategies to enhance public procurement opportunities for women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To do so, the study examines two research questions: To what extent are women-owned enterprises under-represented among SME suppliers to government; and Do barriers to public procurement – as perceived by SME owners – differ across gender?

Design/methodology/approach

The study draws on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and on theories of role congruity and social feminism to develop the study’s hypotheses. Empirical analyses rely on comparisons of a sample of 1,021 SMEs that had been suppliers to government and 9,376 employer firms that had not been suppliers to government. Data were collected by Statistics Canada and are nationally representative. Logistic regression analysis was used to control for systemic firm and owner differences.

Findings

Controlling firm and owner attributes, majority women-owned businesses were underrepresented as SME suppliers to government in some, but not all sectors. Women-owned SMEs in Wholesale and Retail and in Other Services were, ceteris paribus, half as likely as to be government suppliers as counterpart SMEs owned by men. Among Goods Producers and for Professional, Scientific and Technical Services SMEs, there were no significant gender differences in the propensity to supply the federal government. “Complexity of the contracting process” and “difficulty finding contract opportunities” were the obstacles to contracting cited most frequently.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations of using secondary analyses of data are well documented and apply here. The findings reflect only the perspectives of “successful bidders” and do not capture SMEs that submitted bids but were not successful. Furthermore, the survey did not include questions about sub-contractor enterprises, data that would likely provide even more insights about SMEs in government supply chains. Accordingly, the study could not address sub-contracting strategies to increase the number of women-owned businesses on government contracts. Statistics Canada’s privacy protocols also limited the extent to which the research team could examine sub-groups of small business owners, such as visible minorities and Indigenous/Aboriginal persons. It is also notable that much of the SME literature, as well as this study, define gender as a dichotomous (women/female, men/male) attribute. Comparing women/female and men/males implicitly assumes within group homogeneity. Future research should use a more inclusive definition of gender. Research is also required to inform about the obstacles to government procurement among the population of SMEs that were unsuccessful in their bids.

Practical implications

The study provides benchmarks on, and directions to, enhance the participation of women-owned SMEs or enterprises in public procurement. Strategies to support women-owned small businesses that comply with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are advanced.

Social implications

The study offers insights to reconcile economic efficiency and social (gender equity) policy goals in the context of public procurement. The “policy-practice divides” in public procurement and women’s enterprise policies are discussed.

Originality/value

The study is among the first to use a feminist lens to examine the associations between gender of SME ownership and public procurement, while controlling for other salient owner and firm attributes.

Details

Journal of Public Procurement, vol. 21 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1535-0118

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 February 2021

Lilly-Mari Sten, Pernilla Ingelsson, Ingela Bäckström and Marie Häggström

Team collaboration is essential to ensure the quality of care and patient safety when critically ill patients are transferred from an intensive care unit (ICU) to a general ward…

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Abstract

Purpose

Team collaboration is essential to ensure the quality of care and patient safety when critically ill patients are transferred from an intensive care unit (ICU) to a general ward. Measuring team collaboration in the patient transfer process can help gain insights into how team collaboration is perceived and how it can be improved. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and testing of a questionnaire aiming to measure perceived team collaboration in the patient transfer process from ICU to the general ward. This study also aims to analyze the results to see how the survey could help improve team collaboration within ICU transitional care.

Design/methodology/approach

Statements, factors and main areas intended to measure perceived team collaboration were developed from a theory. The questionnaire was tested in two ICUs at two hospitals located in Sweden, and the results were analyzed statistically.

Findings

The results showed that the questionnaire could be used for measuring perceived team collaboration in this process. The results from the survey gave insights that can be useful when improving team collaboration in ICU transitional care.

Research limitations/implications

The collaboration between two research subjects, Nursing Science and Quality Management, has given new perspectives in how cultural and systemic differences and opportunities can help improving team collaboration in ICU transitional care, by shifting focus from the individual to team, culture, system, process and continuous improvement.

Practical implications

The developed questionnaire can be used to measure perceived team collaboration and to identify areas for improving team collaboration in the ICU transitional care process.

Originality/value

There is a sparse amount of research about measuring team collaboration in ICU transitional care, and this study contributes to filling this research gap.

Details

International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-669X

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-2026

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 March 2022

Cheryl Brook and Christine Abbott

This study aims to explore a self-managed action learning (SMAL) initiative undertaken by social work assessors in England, which led to insights into the practice of SMAL.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore a self-managed action learning (SMAL) initiative undertaken by social work assessors in England, which led to insights into the practice of SMAL.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws upon the experience of the authors in relation to an actual SMAL intervention in a social care context in England.

Findings

The paper suggests that, in contrast to extant literature, it is not the absence of an “expert” facilitator, which has proved to be most challenging but rather dealing with the practicalities of managing inter-organisational sets online. Specific individual and inter-organisational learning came about as a result of the SMAL initiative, including the implementation of inter-organisational networking to support isolated assessors.

Research limitations/implications

The ideas and perspectives discussed in this paper will be explored through further empirical research.

Practical implications

The paper illustrates how SMAL can be implemented and suggests how it can facilitate organisational and individual learning.

Social implications

The paper discusses an initiative with the aim of better supporting assessors of newly qualified social workers; a task of enormous importance to the future of social work practice in England.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to a limited literature on the practice of SMAL. The uniqueness comes from both the multi-organisational aspect of the programme, that it is self-managed and delivered virtually.

Details

Journal of Work-Applied Management, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2205-2062

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 12 October 2015

Zahir Irani and Muhammad Kamal

190

Abstract

Details

Journal of Enterprise Information Management, vol. 28 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0398

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 20 August 2020

Satya R. Chakravarty and Palash Sarkar

Abstract

Details

An Introduction to Algorithmic Finance, Algorithmic Trading and Blockchain
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-894-0

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 30 November 2023

Seungah S. Lee and Francisco O. Ramirez

This paper aims to ascertain whether and to what degree universities are becoming organizational actors globally. Utilizing an original dataset of a sample of 500 globally…

Abstract

This paper aims to ascertain whether and to what degree universities are becoming organizational actors globally. Utilizing an original dataset of a sample of 500 globally oriented universities, we explore how universities have increasingly become organizational actors as is the case of American universities. We consider the following indicators of university transformation into organization actors: development or institutional advancement, diversity or inclusion, legalization, and internationalization goals and structures. We find that these globally oriented universities have created international, development, and legal offices. Surprisingly, nearly half of the universities in our sample also have diversity offices. These “getting organized” indicators are somewhat similar to what holds for American universities, suggesting that there is globalization of organizational actorhood among universities. At the same time, however, we find that there are pronounced regional differences, especially when it comes to organizing around diversity and legal affairs.

Details

University Collegiality and the Erosion of Faculty Authority
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-814-0

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 24 July 2014

Abstract

Details

Advances in Librarianship
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-469-5

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 April 2023

Ingela Bäckström, Pernilla Ingelsson, Lilly-Mari Sten and Marie Häggström

The purpose of this study is to develop a model describing different factors that affect quality and efficiency in transitional care.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop a model describing different factors that affect quality and efficiency in transitional care.

Design/methodology/approach

A meta-synthesis focusing on the transitions between wards was conducted within a research project. The results from eight studies within that research project have been combined and analysed from a holistic view.

Findings

The findings are a model with a description of seven different categories consisting of the identified factors affecting quality and efficiency in transitional care. Those categories are (1) learning organisation, (2) standardising and structuring, (3) applying a holistic view, (4) understanding organisational culture in a health care context, (5) management and leadership, (6) for whom value is created and (7) working together. The results from the study have been verified in previous research.

Research limitations/implications

The result of the completed meta-synthesis is based on studies conducted at two medium-sized hospitals in Sweden. The developed model can be used in a similar context to improve quality and efficiency in patient transfers by management and employees working based on the various factors.

Originality/value

This model describes factors (success factors, prerequisites, conditions and lack thereof) affecting the ability to achieve quality and efficiency in transitional care that can be used in future research as well as for practical improvements.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 35 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

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