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1 – 10 of over 4000Ivo Pontes Domingues and José Cunha Machado
The purpose of this paper is to examine the recursive perspective that emphasizes bureaucracy as a source of officers’ stress, explain officers’ stress as a loosely coupled…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the recursive perspective that emphasizes bureaucracy as a source of officers’ stress, explain officers’ stress as a loosely coupled effect, examine the positive effects of loose coupling and legitimize the necessity of improving context management as a stress-reduction factor.
Design/methodology/approach
The research methodology uses a quantitative perspective; the members of two police forces constituted the universe; the sampling technique was not random and accidental; and an exploratory factor analysis and an invariance measure were performed.
Findings
The stress phenomenon is common and similar in both police forces, which means that it is indifferent to their organizational differences and has common causes. Loose coupling is present in both police work settings and entails significant stress; and the search for an explanation of the stress caused by loosely coupled elements should focus on both the value chain and the processes.
Practical implications
Addressing this phenomenon should entail a twofold improvement strategy: the correction of loosely coupled organizational factors by revising the management processes that cause stress and the prevention of loosely coupled effects by using professional training to enhance adaptive behavior within specific contexts.
Originality/value
Police organizations are addressed as loosely coupled (anarchic organized) systems instead of tightly coupled (bureaucratic) systems. The loosely coupled factors that emerge inside bureaucratic organizations cause significant stress among officers and complementary research is necessary to analyze the fallacious nature of the recursive attribution of police stress to bureaucratic characteristics.
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This article examines the loosely coupled nature of the US educational system and explores recent systemic reform initiatives designed to improve education through more tightly…
Abstract
This article examines the loosely coupled nature of the US educational system and explores recent systemic reform initiatives designed to improve education through more tightly coupled education policy and practice. The utility and limitations of loose coupling as an organizational construct are examined and critiqued. A number of significant forces are exerting ever‐greater pressure on policymakers to more tightly couple US education, including environmental pressures, the emergence of powerful new institutional actors, an emergent institutional capacity, and institutional isomorphism. After reviewing the effectiveness of systemic reform initiatives in several states, the article concludes that education in the USA is moving toward a system of fragmented centralization in which policymakers have greater opportunity to craft more coherent, systemic education policy amidst competing demands for limited resources.
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Zengrui Zheng, Kainan Su, Shifeng Lin, Zhiquan Fu and Chenguang Yang
Visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) has limitations such as sensitivity to lighting changes and lower measurement accuracy. The effective fusion of information…
Abstract
Purpose
Visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) has limitations such as sensitivity to lighting changes and lower measurement accuracy. The effective fusion of information from multiple modalities to address these limitations has emerged as a key research focus. This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of the development of vision-based SLAM (including visual SLAM) for navigation and pose estimation, with a specific focus on techniques for integrating multiple modalities.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper initially introduces the mathematical models and framework development of visual SLAM. Subsequently, this paper presents various methods for improving accuracy in visual SLAM by fusing different spatial and semantic features. This paper also examines the research advancements in vision-based SLAM with respect to multi-sensor fusion in both loosely coupled and tightly coupled approaches. Finally, this paper analyzes the limitations of current vision-based SLAM and provides predictions for future advancements.
Findings
The combination of vision-based SLAM and deep learning has significant potential for development. There are advantages and disadvantages to both loosely coupled and tightly coupled approaches in multi-sensor fusion, and the most suitable algorithm should be chosen based on the specific application scenario. In the future, vision-based SLAM is evolving toward better addressing challenges such as resource-limited platforms and long-term mapping.
Originality/value
This review introduces the development of vision-based SLAM and focuses on the advancements in multimodal fusion. It allows readers to quickly understand the progress and current status of research in this field.
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Rita Berggren, Johanna E. Pregmark, Tobias Fredberg and Björn Frössevi
The literature on organizational change has long acknowledged the need to balance stability and economic efficiency with the need to be flexible and to change. Authors, certainly…
Abstract
The literature on organizational change has long acknowledged the need to balance stability and economic efficiency with the need to be flexible and to change. Authors, certainly in the dynamic capabilities tradition but also in other perspectives, have stressed the importance of more open and loosely coupled systems to promote adaption. However, many organizations do not operate on such premises but rather rely on creating efficient business units through tight coupling, building strict social and administrative control, and jointly relying on common systems. In this study, we conduct 46 interviews with employees from three different retail organizations to investigate how units in such tightly coupled systems change within the framework of the set standards. Through contrasting the characteristics of high and low functioning units, we identify three mechanisms that seem to enable the units to successfully and repeatedly realign and establish new configurations. We conclude that the orchestrator of all three realignment mechanisms is the middle manager, and we discuss the middle manager's role and the different activities that enable a successful realignment.
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Mari Elken and Martina Vukasovic
The term “loose coupling” has been widely employed in higher education research. Building partly on the “garbage can model” of decision-making, it proposed an alternative to…
Abstract
The term “loose coupling” has been widely employed in higher education research. Building partly on the “garbage can model” of decision-making, it proposed an alternative to rational and linear views on organizing and governing, emphasizing instead ambiguity and complexity. The review of higher education research literature presented in this chapter demonstrates that the concept of loose coupling has frequently been used as a background concept, often taken for-granted either as a point of departure for studies of organizational processes in higher education or as a diagnosis of the complexity of higher education organization that inhibits implementation of reforms. This chapter provides systematization and critical examination of how the term “loose coupling”/“loosely coupled systems” has been employed in journal articles focusing on higher education in the last 40 years. It presents a broad mapping of 209 articles and a more detailed qualitative review of 22 articles, which employed loose coupling as more than a background concept.
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As monolithic corporations and public agencies seek ways of adapting to the demands of the next century many such institutions, while wishing to retain the benefits of belonging…
Abstract
As monolithic corporations and public agencies seek ways of adapting to the demands of the next century many such institutions, while wishing to retain the benefits of belonging to an identifiable corporation, are recreating themselves as conglomerates of “loosely coupled businesses”. This situation creates new challenges for corporate communications specialists and educators. Corporate communication in devolved systems must involve design of specific solutions for the knowledge management and communication needs of individual businesses based on local knowledge of the systems likely to be affected. This paper presents a case study analysis of a local government organisation undergoing change and from it derives suggestions for the implementation of a communication model involving consultation and education in devolved systems.
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This study aims to examine the development of service ecosystems literature and its four premises as follows: the characterization of service ecosystems as loosely coupled systems…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the development of service ecosystems literature and its four premises as follows: the characterization of service ecosystems as loosely coupled systems, the existence of shared institutional arrangements among actors, the occurrence of resource-integrating interactions among actors and value co-creation as the stated purpose of service ecosystems.
Design/methodology/approach
With a systematic literature review, the paper identifies and analyzes 98 articles on service ecosystems. An examination and a cross-check of the central elements of the articles reveal gaps and limitations in the analysis of service ecosystems. These results lead to the formulation of four propositions and suggestions for further research.
Findings
The four premises of service ecosystems are constrained by overly optimistic perceptions that prevent theoretical advancements. These premises overlook possible tight coupling; power asymmetries; divergent interpretations of institutions and institutional arrangements; divergent interpretations of actors’ resource-integrating actions, intentions and abilities; and the co-destruction of value. Four propositions are formulated to address these challenges.
Research limitations/implications
The shortcomings reflect the systematic literature review, which only covers a specific area of the extant knowledge base, namely, English-language articles published in peer-reviewed international journals.
Originality/value
This study extensively and critically investigates the premises of service ecosystems for the first time, proposing a more holistic, dynamic and realistic understanding of them. In so doing, it paves the way for renewed conceptualizations of service ecosystems.
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Tanja Hautala, Jaakko Helander and Vesa Korhonen
The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesize the attributes of loose and tight coupling in educational organizations. In addition, it is aimed to determine whether this…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesize the attributes of loose and tight coupling in educational organizations. In addition, it is aimed to determine whether this phenomenon has value and strategies to offer for the current educational administration and research.
Design/methodology/approach
Integrative literature review and content analysis, assisted by Atlas.ti software, were used as the methods of this paper. Review data included 32 articles from peer reviewed journals.
Findings
Conceptual framework of continuum of organizational couplings in educational organizations was generated. Elements of the framework include the features of coupling concepts within the continuum, components of couplings, contributory types of organizational couplings and the elements of leadership and change process with emerging strategies, as well as the element of cultural context. In this paper, elements of continuum of couplings and leadership will be emphasized.
Practical implications
Findings have practical implications for the management and leadership in educational organizations, and for the researchers in the field for future research purposes.
Social implications
Findings have social implications for both teaching staff and administration in educational organizations, by highlighting the attributes of loose and tight coupling, and their connections with leadership, change process and cultural context.
Originality/value
The paper presents a distinctive synopsis of the educational administration literature, in the context of loose and tight coupling, with the time span of four decades.
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Inês Cruz, Maria Major and Robert W. Scapens
The paper aims to look at a joint venture (JV) set up by a Portuguese company and a global corporation (GC) in the hospitality sector. The paper seeks to examine how, and why the…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to look at a joint venture (JV) set up by a Portuguese company and a global corporation (GC) in the hospitality sector. The paper seeks to examine how, and why the JV's managers introduced variations in the management control (MC) rules and procedures in institutionalizing the global MC system imposed by the GC.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper relies on qualitative data collected through a case study of the JV over a period of two years. Insights from recent neo‐institutional work in accounting, complemented by the notion of multiple logics and the Orton and Weick perspective on loose coupling, are drawn on to interpret the case findings. The MC literature in GCs is also reviewed to explore whether and how practice variation can occur in these complex institutional settings.
Findings
Although institutional and technical criteria were not in dialectical tension, the global MC system was adapted by the JV's managers. They developed loosely coupled MC rules and procedures to satisfy the multiple logics informing it.
Research limitations/implications
More qualitative studies on the adoption of externally imposed practices in other global/local settings are needed to refine the understanding of this phenomenon.
Originality/value
The present study extends the scope of neoinstitutional analysis in accounting by showing and explaining how and why individual organizations, which are dependent on dominant others, can introduce variations in imposed systems and practices. In so doing, the paper also contributes to a fuller understanding of MC practices in GCs.
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The purpose of this paper is to describe and summarize a PhD thesis that contributes to the understanding of how unexpected events (deviations) are handled. It explores the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and summarize a PhD thesis that contributes to the understanding of how unexpected events (deviations) are handled. It explores the reality of project manager's attempts to address loosely coupled components of tightly coupled projects from a projects‐as‐practice approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Research reported here is based upon a qualitative data gathering approach adopting an ethnographic research approach, gathering data from 12 weeks of participant observations, 59 interviews and studying supporting documentation with the offices under study. This approach is warranted by the projects‐as‐practice approach which puts emphasis on the situated actions.
Findings
Rather than reducing uncertainty, project management action through coping with deviations to expectations provides mechanisms that thrive on the uncertainty of the situation. Project managers can cope with unexpected deviations to plan in a logical and rigorous way that is currently poorly recognized as an official project management “skill”.
Practical implications
More space for action is created to solve the specific deviation by enhancing the seriousness of the deviation. The longer the project manager is able to emphasize the structures of a deviation, the more time the project manager has to find a suitable solution.
Originality/value
There are two main areas of conclusion that are given attention. First, uncertainty is inherent in projects which can be used when dealing with deviations in projects because while all deviations do not have great consequences, they follow the same basic pattern when managed. Project management in this sense becomes the management of deviations. Second, in terms of the theory of loosely coupled systems, a practice‐based analysis has been largely missing in the project management literature. The study reported upon investigates and explains this inner life of loose coupling mechanisms.
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