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As part of a national plan to govern professional and organizational development in Norwegian specialist healthcare, the country’s hospital clinics are tasked with constructing development plans. Using the development plan as a case, the paper analyzes how managers navigate and legitimize the planning process among central actors and deals with the contingency of decisions in such strategy work.

This study applies a qualitative research design using a case study method. The material consists of public documents, observations and single interviews, covering the process of constructing a development plan at the clinical level.

The findings suggest that the development plan was shaped through a multilevel translation process consisting of different contending rationalities. At the clinical level, the management had difficulties in legitimizing the process. The underlying tension between top-down and bottom-up steering challenged involvement and made it difficult to manage the contingency of decisions.

The findings are relevant to public sector managers working on strategy documents and policymakers identifying challenges that might hinder the fulfillment of political intentions.

This paper draws on a case from Norway; however, the findings are of general interest. The study contributes to the academic discussion on how to consider both the health authorities’ perspective and the organizational perspective to understand the manager’s role in handling the contingency of decisions and managing paradoxes in the decision-making process.

Output from the Irish Dairy Industry has grown rapidly since the abolition of quotas in 2015, with processors investing heavily in capacity expansion to deal with the extra milk volumes. Further capacity gains may be achieved by extending the processing season into the winter, a key enabler for which being the reduction of duration of the winter maintenance overhaul period. This paper aims to investigate if Lean Six Sigma tools and techniques can be used to enhance operational maintenance performance, thereby releasing additional processing capacity.

Combining the Six-Sigma Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control (DMAIC) methodology and the structured approach of Turnaround Maintenance (TAM) widely used in process industries creates a novel hybrid model that promises substantial improvement in maintenance overhaul execution. This paper presents a case study applying the DMAIC/TAM model to Ireland’s largest dairy processing site to optimise the annual maintenance shutdown. The objective was to deliver a 30% reduction in the duration of the overhaul, enabling an extension of the processing season.

Application of the DMAIC/TAM hybrid resulted in process enhancements, employee engagement and a clear roadmap for the operations team. Project goals were delivered, and original objectives exceeded, resulting in €8.9m additional value to the business and a reduction of 36% in the duration of the overhaul.

The results demonstrate that the model provides a structure that promotes systematic working and a continuous improvement focus that can have substantial benefits for wider industry. Opportunities for further model refinement were identified and will enhance performance in subsequent overhauls.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that the structure and tools of DMAIC and TAM have been combined into a hybrid methodology and applied in an Irish industrial setting.

In a recent quasi-experimental study, the effects of a large German public startup support measure entitled “EXIST – Business Startup Grant” (EGS) on a variety of outcomes were determined, but without examining which factors are responsible for these program effects. The present study investigates the contribution of several factors to the success of the program in promoting product development and business planning.

By means of a two-wave panel design and fixed-effects panel regressions, evidence is generated that provides unique insights into the effect mechanisms of a publicly funded startup grant. The data for the study come from the program monitoring of the startup support measure.

Several factors were identified that significantly drive the effects of the program on the product development and business planning stages, namely the program-induced improvement of the skills of the startup team, intensification of cooperation with pilot customers/users, increase in the degree of networking and advice/support from third parties and the effort put into business plan preparation.

Startup support programs are a crucial aspect of technology and innovation policies, which are often evaluated in order to find out whether they generate effects. Assessing whether a program is effective or not, however, does not usually allow specific recommendations on how to improve the measure to be developed. Further information on the mechanisms of intervention is needed for this purpose. The present study takes up on this idea and provides this information for a specific type of public startup support measure.

In academics and industry, significant efforts have been made to lead planners and control teams in evaluating project performance and control. In this context, numerous control metrics have been devised and put into practice, often with little emphasis on analyzing their underlying concepts. To cover this gap, this research aims to identify and analyze a holistic list of control metrics and their functionalities in the construction industry.

A multi-step analytical approach was conducted to achieve the study’s objectives. First, a holistic list of control metrics and their functionalities in the construction industry was identified. Second, a quantitative analysis based on social network analysis (SNA) was implemented to discover the most important functionalities.

The results revealed that the most important control metrics' functionalities (CMF) could differ depending on the type of metrics (lagging and leading) and levels of control. However, in general, the most significant functionalities include managing project progress and performance, evaluating the look-ahead level’s performance, measuring the reliability and stability of workflow, measuring the make-ready process, constraint management and measuring the quality of construction flow.

This research will assist the project team in getting a comprehensive sensemaking of planning and control systems and their functionalities to plan and control different dynamic aspects of the project.

The efficiency of each of an organization’s individual workers determines its effectiveness. The study aims to explore the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and organizational effectiveness with employee performance as a mediating variable.

Data were collected from 800 police officers in the Greater Accra and Tema regions. The data were supported by the hypothesized relationship. Construct reliability and validity was established through confirmatory factor analysis. The proposed model and hypotheses were evaluated using structural equation modeling.

The results show that career planning and employee performance were significantly related. Self-managed teams and employee performance were shown to be nonsignificantly related. Similarly, performance management and employee performance were shown to be nonsignificantly related. Employee performance significantly influenced organizational effectiveness. The results further indicate that employee performance mediates the relationship between HRM practices and organizational effectiveness.

The generalizability of the findings will be constrained due to the research’s police service focus and cross-sectional data.

The study’s findings will serve as valuable pointers for the police administration in the adoption, design and implementation of well-articulated and proactive HRM practices to improve the abilities, skills, knowledge and motivation of officer’s to inordinately enhance the effectiveness of the service.

By evidencing empirically that employee performance mediates the relationship between HRM practice and organizational effectiveness, the study extends the literature.

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) enable the synergistic integration of virtual models with the physical environment. This integration is gaining recognition for its potential to enhance construction project information management, thereby contributing to improved cost management in construction. Similarly, quantity surveyor (QS) plays a key role in construction projects by estimating and monitoring construction costs. Consequently, this research aims to explore redefining the role of QSs by integrating CPS.

The research adopted an interpretivism stance to collect and analyse data. Two rounds of 21 and 19 semi-structured interviews were conducted, with experts selected through heterogeneous purposive sampling. Code-based content analysis was used to analyse the data using NVivo12. MS Visio data visualisation tool was used to present the findings.

It is empirically proven the potential of CPS to facilitate nine key roles of QSs in all stages of the RIBA plan of work through the identification of 15 CPS applications and technologies. Nine key roles of QSs that CPS can facilitate were identified as preliminary estimation, measurement and quantification, contract administration, preparation of BOQ, interim valuation and payments, tender and contract documentation, cost planning, cost control and procurement advice. The study explored how adopting CPS technologies can transform traditional quantity surveying practices and enhance their value within the construction industry.

The findings add to the body of knowledge by redefining the role of QS through the integration of CPS for the first time and then by highlighting the usages of CPS in the construction industry rather than limiting it to a specific sector of the construction industry, as previous studies have done. This research uncovers several other research arenas on CPS as being the very first research to evaluate CPS to facilitate key roles of QSs. The findings can enhance the awareness and the practical implementation of CPS by intervening to form more partnerships among application developers and industry leaders.

The purpose of this paper is to explore existing and desired methodologies for systematic quality work to promote quality in preschools from the principal’s perspective.

A collaborative approach was used in this research project, and principals were asked to complete portfolio assignments. Their answers to those portfolio assignments were analysed by the research team and subsequently compared to total quality management values.

Existing and desired methodologies for systematic quality work are presented and sorted into 13 and 17 groups, respectively. The principals desire four times more methodologies than they are presently using to promote systematic quality work, and the results show that they must extend their methodologies to support TQM values.

This research is based on answers collected from 18 principals in one municipality in Sweden.

The use of the cornerstone model provides a framework to illustrate the application of TQM in preschools.

Principals struggle to find time for systemic quality work. The presented results can be used to work systematically with quality in preschools and other organizations.

The study aims to examine the dark side of teleworking and tests the various factors which lead to employee exhaustion while teleworking. The study examines two key variables, i.e. initiated interdependence and professional isolation, as antecedents of emotional exhaustion amongst employees who are teleworking. The study further investigates the mediating role of psychological detachment in these relationships.

Survey data were collected from 307 employees who were teleworking for more than three months. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the proposed hypothesis.

The study found that initiated interdependence and professional isolation positively impact emotional exhaustion. These findings suggest that employees whose work is designed such that others depend on them will experience high emotional exhaustion while teleworking. Also, employees who experience professional isolation because of a lack of connection while teleworking will experience emotional exhaustion. The study also revealed the mediating role of psychological detachment in these relationships.

The study has insights for policy-making concerning telework practices.

It is one of the first studies examining the impact of teleworking in a context when it is not a choice exercised by the employees but has been imposed upon them. This study is particularly relevant in the context of the decision made by some organizations to move to telework as a permanent work format.

This paper aims to empirically investigate how knowledge coordination is carried out within and across expert teams in the outsourcing service desk context from the standpoint of the information and communication technologies (ICT) provider.

The authors draw on an embedded case study to unravel the mechanisms used by expert teams to achieve knowledge coordination. Data collection included semi-structured interviews and document analysis over eight months.

Four groups of coordination mechanisms were found according to their nature and role in helping MESA achieve its organizational goals. The authors also identified how this set of mechanisms responds to the task-resource dependency and how it evolves over time to provide reliable ICT services. Furthermore, the analysis of four knowledge coordination dimensions inside each group uncovers the complexity of coordination in the studied context, with the “who” dimension being predominant across the groups. The analysis further reveals that the content (what) and mode of coordination (how) of each group respond to elements in the knowledge coordination process relevant for the different stages of the ICT service delivery process.

The case study addresses how people in outsourced services coordinate their knowledge to manage the interdependencies among the involved organizations and thus, achieving their goals. This study extends previous research that had analyzed the consequences of knowledge coordination for providers and customers by delving into the mechanisms used in this process from the provider’s point of view.

This paper proposes a progressive, multi-level framework for diagnosing maintenance performance: rapid performance health checks of key performance for different equipment groups and end-to-end process diagnostics to further locate potential performance issues. A question-based performance evaluation approach is introduced to support the selection and derivation of case-specific indicators based on diagnostic aspects.

The case research method is used to develop the proposed framework. The generic parts of the framework are built on existing maintenance performance measurement theories through a literature review. In the case study, empirical maintenance data of 196 emergency shutdown valves (ESDVs) are collected over a two-year period to support the development and validation of the proposed approach.

To improve processes, companies need a separate performance measurement structure. This paper suggests a hierarchical model in four layers (objective, domain, aspect and performance measurement) to facilitate the selection and derivation of indicators, which could potentially reduce management complexity and help prioritize continuous performance improvement. Examples of new indicators are derived from a case study that includes 196 ESDVs at an offshore oil and gas production plant.

Methodological approaches to deriving various performance indicators have rarely been addressed in the maintenance field. The proposed diagnostic framework provides a structured way to identify and locate process performance issues by creating indicators that can bridge generic evaluation aspects and maintenance data. The framework is highly adaptive as data availability functions are used as inputs to generate indicators instead of passively filtering out non-applicable existing indicators.