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1 – 10 of over 25000Yi Yang, V.K. Narayanan, Yamuna Baburaj and Srinivasan Swaminathan
This paper aims to examine the relationship between the characteristics of strategic decision-making team’s mental model and its performance. The authors propose that the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the relationship between the characteristics of strategic decision-making team’s mental model and its performance. The authors propose that the relationship between mental models and performance is two-way, rather than one-way. Thus, performance feedback should, in turn, influence strategic behavior and future performance by either triggering or hindering the learning process.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conduct the research in the setting of a simulation experiment. A longitudinal data set was collected from 36 teams functioning as strategic decision makers over three periods.
Findings
This study provides support for the positive impacts of both the complexity and centrality of a team’s mental model on its performance. The authors also find that positive performance feedback reduces changes in complexity and centrality of team mental models due to cognitive inertia.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the literature by investigating the specific mechanisms that underlie mental model evolution. Different from the existing studies on team mental models that mainly focus on similarity of these shared cognitive structures, this study examines another two characteristics of team mental model, complexity and centrality, that are more relevant to the strategic decision-making process but has not been extensively studied in the team literature. In addition, this study reveals that performance feedback has different effects on team mental models depending on the referents – past performance or social comparison – which advances the understanding of the learning effects of performance feedback.
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Theoretical generalisation provides the basis for tackling problems of service complexity, fragmentation and disrupted care pathways.
Abstract
Purpose
Theoretical generalisation provides the basis for tackling problems of service complexity, fragmentation and disrupted care pathways.
Design/methodology/approach
Recent mental health service transformation in Wales, United Kingdom, has been stimulated by a policy programme underpinned by person-centred recovery values. This paper offers analysis informed by the perspectives of Niklas Luhmann and other noted theorists to examine escalating service system complexity related to this transformation. Analysis builds upon the findings of a qualitative study employing thematic discourse analysis of talk of people with mental illness and associated workers.
Findings
In total, three themes were constructed in participants' talk: “Competing versions of recovery”, “Misaligned service expectations” and “Disrupted care pathways.” Recovery may be understood as a form of moral communication and autopoietic meaning-making activity, according to Luhmann's radical constructionist epistemology. This has the potential to generate competing versions of recovery, a key contributor to escalating complexity.
Research limitations/implications
Findings could be developed further by continued investigation of the relationship between recovery implementation and service fragmentation.
Social implications
A more judicious, balanced policy-implementation may cultivate optimal conditions for recovery pluralism by avoiding polarisation towards either top-down, policy-based recovery implementation or a proliferation of approaches at the grassroots level. Findings have implications for healthcare settings beyond the scope of mental healthcare, given the prevalence of person-centred care internationally.
Originality/value
A simplistic view of recovery implementation should be challenged. Recovery should not be considered a “magic bullet” for mental healthcare delivery. Haphazard recovery-implementation may have detrimental effects of escalating complexity, service fragmentation and disrupted care pathways.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate gender differences in the formation of mental models of firm strategies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate gender differences in the formation of mental models of firm strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
The specific research question is how gender, social interaction, team psychological safety and synergistic knowledge development influence certain characteristics – complexity and centrality – of an individual's mental model of firm strategies. A survey was conducted on a sample of US business students enrolled in strategic management courses. Social interaction, team psychological safety and synergistic knowledge development were measured by use of multiple‐item seven‐point Likert scales. Mental models were constructed by the causal mapping method. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The regression analyses of the survey data support most of the hypotheses. Gender directly influences complexity and centrality in mental models of firm strategies and moderates the predictive influence of social interaction on synergistic knowledge development.
Research limitations/implications
Possible limitations are the use of a student sample and of respondents as the sole data source. Future research could use managers as research subjects and multiple data sources and explore other determinants of the mental model of firm strategies.
Practical implications
The findings alert university educators about the importance of helping women develop high‐order knowledge and problem‐solving skills by understanding various business functions and synthesizing diverse perspectives. Corporate managers need to design and implement special mentoring and training programs for women with the aim of enriching their specific management knowledge. This study also suggests that women may increase their chance of developing strategic knowledge by proactively networking with senior managers.
Originality/value
This study on gender differences in accumulating management knowledge and skills helps us better understand the roots of and solutions to the gender gap in management and leadership positions. The most intriguing result is the demonstration of gender differences in the development of specific management knowledge. Biases against women not only contribute directly to the “glass ceiling”; more disturbingly, they negatively influence women's internal development of knowledge structures.
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Slaughter has proposed futures in which interior human development matches that of technological development as the best prospect for avoiding catastrophic collapse through…
Abstract
Purpose
Slaughter has proposed futures in which interior human development matches that of technological development as the best prospect for avoiding catastrophic collapse through overshoot of the Earth's carrying capacity. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of the primary energy resource context in making sense of the prospects for such futures, and to consider how subtle changes to conceptual models for understanding the nature of human development can offer alternate pathways for proceeding in light of the fundamental limits this imposes.
Design/methodology/approach
Conceptual models for the relationship between energy and social complexity are reviewed, and proposals for connecting social complexity with interior human development are discussed. Popular models of interior human development are critiqued in light of recent clarifications relating to Integral Theory; and specific reconceptualisations are proposed.
Findings
Technological and interior human development are intimately linked. There are important interdependencies between energy and social complexity that must be taken into account in establishing expectations for the way that these realms might evolve together. This presents significant challenges for realising on a society‐wide scale development of the nature commonly associated with Integral Theory. However, alternative ways of conceptualising such development offer fresh opportunities for confronting the spectre of environmental and social breakdown.
Originality/value
The implications of models relating social complexity and resource context are extended to questions of human interior development; the unit of development is extended from the individual in relative isolation to the organism‐in‐environment.
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Micha Popper and Ury M. Gluskinos
Argues that hierarchical level is frequently not given enoughconsideration in analysing managerial jobs. Describes the qualitativedifferences existing at the various hierarchical…
Abstract
Argues that hierarchical level is frequently not given enough consideration in analysing managerial jobs. Describes the qualitative differences existing at the various hierarchical levels in terms of time‐span, task complexity, and mental capabilities required. Specifically argues that the cognitive complexity required at senior managerial levels may be a liability at lower managerial levels where direct judgment and quick action are needed. Consequently, postulates an inverse “Peter Principle”. Elaborates on the implications of this inverse “Peter Principle” for management selection promotion and development of these hierarchical differences.
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Lee Knifton, Alice Walker and Neil Quinn
Stigma and discrimination towards people with mental health problems is a global issue, imposing a considerable public health burden in terms of social isolation, limited life…
Abstract
Stigma and discrimination towards people with mental health problems is a global issue, imposing a considerable public health burden in terms of social isolation, limited life chances, delayed help‐seeking behaviour and stress. While numerous initiatives have been undertaken to address these issues, an evidence base for what works is still emerging. This paper explores the impact of 15 population‐level awareness workshops delivered over a five‐month period to 137 participants. These were employees drawn from workplaces identified as being important in the day‐to‐day lives of people with mental health problems. Evaluation approaches maximised specificity, sensitivity and anonymity and they assessed participant knowledge, attitude and behaviour. The workshops significantly improved participant knowledge. Attitude change was more complex with an overall significant improvement in attitudes, particularly in relation to unpredictability and recovery, but not dangerousness, which had more positive baseline attitudes. Social distance, a proxy for behavioural intent, had significant improvements in relation to ‘moderate’ social contact only. Qualitative feedback indicated that complex, unanticipated and positive messages had been absorbed by participants and influenced beliefs and behavioural intent. Service user narratives focusing on recovery were identified as the most valuable component of the intervention.
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Céline Dujardin, Vitalii Klymchuk and Viktoriia Gorbunova
The purpose of this paper is to explore the perception of the mental health problems of the homeless population in a high-income country (Luxembourg) by social service providers…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the perception of the mental health problems of the homeless population in a high-income country (Luxembourg) by social service providers and to develop proposals for better inclusion of homeless people into the mental health services and homeless people with mental health issues into society.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was of qualitative design and conducted using a semi-structured interview method (in person). The semi-structured interviews (seven participants) were conducted to analyse the challenges, practice approaches and prospects of stakeholders or decision-makers working in housing exclusion and homelessness. A secondary thematic analysis of this content regarding mental health issues was performed.
Findings
Three main themes in the social providers’ perception were identified related to mental health and homelessness: the general view on the mental health problems of homeless people (accent on substance use disorders [SUDs], overshadowing of other mental health conditions by the SUDs); the positive impact of housing and social services on the mental health of the homeless per se (role of social rhythms, social connectedness and multidisciplinary approach are emphasised); and the need for improvement of mental health services in the country (need for the long-term timely continuing mental health support and recognition of the importance of complex intersectional and multidisciplinary solutions).
Research limitations/implications
Mental health themes were not the primary focus while research was planned and conducted. They were revealed as results of secondary qualitative data analysis. Therefore, additional mental health-focused mixed methods research is needed to verify the conclusions. The paper is written on the results of the research project “Social Housing and Homelessness” (SOHOME), implemented at the University of Luxembourg with the financial support of the Fonds National de la Recherche of Luxembourg (FNR12626464). The sponsor had no involvement in the study design, the collection, analysis and interpretation of data or the preparation of the paper.
Practical implications
The study brings together different perspectives from social workers, stakeholders and decision-makers. The results show that there are cross-field connections between homelessness and mental health that require specialised and coordinated services. The first existing approaches seem to be promising in their continuation but need to be promoted by social policy.
Social implications
To promote social cohesion in the Luxembourgish society and also to include one of the most vulnerable people, the study points to the importance of the link between homelessness and compromised mental health. Appropriate support and service provision as well as social and affordable housing play a central role.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind, revealing several social work stakeholders’ perspective on the mental health of homeless people in Luxembourg.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical insights into an imminent problem of knowledge management. Through the reflection on the impact of subjectivity in knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical insights into an imminent problem of knowledge management. Through the reflection on the impact of subjectivity in knowledge production, the object‐subject divide is to be analyzed.
Design/methodology/approach
The starting point is that knowledge management is far from being management of objective truth. The paper shows how the transformation of information and signals into knowledge is affected by mind sets and how these mind sets may differ according to individual and cultural parameters. This means that any kind of diversity finds its expression in cognitive diversity and finally also in knowledge diversity. This paper is based on a review of the literature in the field of behavioral economics and where it overlaps with economics and psychology.
Findings
The probability of misunderstanding increases the overlap of individual mindsets. Even if there are sophisticated technologies which support the management of knowledge, the knowledge product by itself can neither be managed nor effectively be controlled.
Research limitations/implications
The theoretical discussion gives room for empirical testing, i.e. in experiments.
Practical implications
The value of knowledge management depends on the accuracy of data gathering, but the probability of misunderstanding increases the overlap of individual mindsets.
Originality/value
The paper looks critically at a management tool that tries to manage the most important resource in the company and which is too often considered as a merely technological challenge.
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Despite the growing importance and complexity of modern supply chains, little scholarly attention has been devoted to cognitive processes in supply chain management (SCM). In…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the growing importance and complexity of modern supply chains, little scholarly attention has been devoted to cognitive processes in supply chain management (SCM). In particular, we know little about the structure of supply chain managers’ cognitive frames and how differences between frames affect sustainable supply chain management (SSCM).
Design/methodology/approach
Given the relative scarcity of the topic, this paper uses a conceptual approach. Building on prior literature from cognitive psychology and related areas, it develops ideal types of cognitive frames with which supply chain managers approach sustainability-related decisions.
Findings
This study first develops three ideal-type cognitive frames – unidimensional, hierarchical and paradoxical. This paper then shows that it makes a difference which one of these a supply chain manager holds when addressing issues related to sustainable supply. Thereafter, this study discusses the antecedents that can explain why a manager holds a particular cognitive frame.
Research limitations/implications
This paper represents one of the first analyses of how the structure of a supply chain manager’s cognitive frame impacts their firm’s sustainable supply initiatives. Although developed with regard to SSCM, the arguments have implications for other management areas too, not least for the education of future SCM professionals.
Originality/value
Given their boundary-spanning role, attention to the cognitive processes of supply chain managers is crucial to understanding the conditions under which firms can address sustainability challenges in their supply chains.
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