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Book part
Publication date: 29 March 2016

Chris Akroyd, Sharlene Sheetal Narayan Biswas and Sharon Chuang

This paper examines how the management control practices of organization members enable the alignment of product development projects with potentially conflicting corporate…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines how the management control practices of organization members enable the alignment of product development projects with potentially conflicting corporate strategies during the product development process.

Methodology/approach

Using an ethnomethodology informed research approach, we carry out a case study of an innovative New Zealand food company. Case study data included an internal company document, interviews with organization members, and an external market analysis document.

Findings

Our case study company had both sales growth and profit growth corporate strategies which have been argued to cause tensions. We found that four management control practices enabled the alignment of product development projects to these strategies. The first management control practice was having the NPD and marketing functions responsible for different corporate strategies. Other management control practices included the involvement of organization members from across multiple functions, the activities they carried out, and the measures used to evaluate project performance during the product development process.

Research limitations/implications

These findings add new insights to the management accounting literature by showing how a combination of management control practices can be used by organization members to align projects with potentially conflicting corporate strategies during the product development process.

Practical implications

While the alignment of product development projects to corporate strategy is not easy this study shows how it can be enabled through a number of management control practices.

Originality/value

We contribute to the management accounting research in this area by extending our understanding of the management control practices used during the product development process.

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2002

Moira Barratt

This article examines what has been learnt about practice‐academic partnership from two Research in Practice projects aimed at supporting the development of evidence‐based practice

Abstract

This article examines what has been learnt about practice‐academic partnership from two Research in Practice projects aimed at supporting the development of evidence‐based practice in social care. Tangible support from organisations is needed to support both the partnership approach and the development of evidence‐based practice.

Details

Journal of Integrated Care, vol. 10 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1476-9018

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 August 2023

Richard Jaffu and Ismail Abdi Changalima

Human resource development (HRD) has been considered in enhancing organisational operations as human resources are vital for organisational performance. This study aims to examine…

1845

Abstract

Purpose

Human resource development (HRD) has been considered in enhancing organisational operations as human resources are vital for organisational performance. This study aims to examine the role of HRD on the effectiveness of public procurement in Tanzania.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed a cross-sectional research design under which data was collected from 168 procurement professionals in Dodoma city, Tanzania. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to analyse the collected data and examine the structural relationships between HRD and the effectiveness of public procurement in Tanzania.

Findings

The findings revealed that all the variables of human resource development; career development, training and performance appraisal, are statistically significant and positively related to the effectiveness of public procurement. Therefore, the findings reveal that career development, training and performance appraisal as HRD practices play an important role in enhancing the effectiveness of public procurement in the surveyed public procuring organisations in Tanzania.

Research limitations/implications

This current study divides HRD into three main practices: career development, training and performance appraisal. This limits the study's applicability to other HRD practices that organisations may institutionalize to public procurement professionals who work in various public organisations in Tanzania.

Originality/value

This paper integrates the concept of HRD and public procurement effectiveness. Therefore, the study adds value to the literature on human resource management and public procurement management.

Details

European Journal of Management Studies, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2183-4172

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 January 2023

Oliver William Jones, David Devins and Greg Barnes

The paper is a proof of concept (PoC) intervention study aimed for developing performance management (PM) practices in manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with…

827

Abstract

Purpose

The paper is a proof of concept (PoC) intervention study aimed for developing performance management (PM) practices in manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the longer-term aim enabling the SMEs to improve their productivity. The intervention was designed and deployed by a collaborative quartet of academics, management consultants, accountancy firm and a commercial bank manager.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper firstly musters a set of initialising PM practices aligned to productivity improvement. These are utilised to design a knowledge transfer intervention for deployment with a set of manufacturing SMEs incorporating some associated productivity tools. The evaluation of the intervention utilised a case study approach founded on a logic model of the intervention to assess the development of the PM practices.

Findings

The intervention contributed to a partial development of the mustered practices and the productivity diagnostic based on the multi-factor productivity (MFP) abstraction and a data extraction protocol had the strongest impact. The study revealed the importance of the three interlaced factors: Depth of engagement, feedback opportunities and the intervention gradient (the increase of independent action from the participating SME's and the diminishment of the external intervention effort).

Research limitations/implications

The case study is based on a limited number of individual SME's, and within just the manufacturing sector.

Practical implications

SME businesses will require a more sustained programme of interventions than this pilot to develop PM capability, and depth of engagement within the SME is critical. Professional stakeholders can be utilised in recruitment of firms for intervention programmes. Business can start developing PM capability prior to PMS implementation using the tools from this programme.

Originality/value

The productivity diagnostic tool, based on a synthesis of MFP and the performance pyramid, an array of potential initialising practices for PM capability and discovery of potential mechanisms for PM practice development.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 73 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 October 2022

Candace D. Bloomquist and Leah Georges

Leadership scholar-practitioners seldom need to be sold on the benefits of working together. Rather leadership educators want to know how to teach adult leadership…

Abstract

Leadership scholar-practitioners seldom need to be sold on the benefits of working together. Rather leadership educators want to know how to teach adult leadership scholar-practitioners how to work together across differences. The aim of this paper is to guide leadership development practitioners on how to nurture leadership that can address the complex problems the changing global arena demand of us today and into the future. We argue when preparing adult leadership scholar-practitioners, using adult learning theories and paying attention to the interdisciplinary roots of the field of leadership might lead to better learning and engagement with real world challenges. In this paper we present a leadership development model we call interdisciplinary leadership. First, we discuss the interdisciplinary roots of leadership. Second, we describe interdisciplinary leadership as a tapestry – an intricate combination of identities, practices, and outcomes used to prepare people to address complex problems. Finally, we describe the mission, structure, curriculum, and instructional strategies that can be used by leadership educators when applying interdisciplinary leadership. This model acknowledges the identity, practices, and outcomes needed to develop scholar-practitioners of leadership and provides practical techniques to help leadership educators prepare leaders to work together across differences to address complex problems.

Details

Journal of Leadership Education, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1552-9045

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2002

Lars Mathiassen

Reports from a systems development research tradition in which emphasis is put on relating research activities to practice and on establishing fruitful collaboration between…

5420

Abstract

Reports from a systems development research tradition in which emphasis is put on relating research activities to practice and on establishing fruitful collaboration between groups of researchers and practitioners. Describes and evaluates a specific research project in which a large group of researchers and practitioners worked together to understand, support, and improve systems development practices in four organisations over a period of three years. Uses the case to reflect on the research goals, approaches, and results involved in this tradition for researching systems development practice. Proposes collaborative practice research as a way to organise and conduct research into systems development practice based on close collaboration between researchers and practitioners. Exemplifies the use of pluralist research methodology by combining action research with experiments and conventional practice studies. Argues that collaborative practice research offers one practical way to strike a useful balance between relevance and rigour. Concludes with a discussion of the implications for the relation between research and practice within the systems development discipline and with lessons on how to design research efforts as collaborations between researchers and practitioners.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 October 2021

Alexander Kristiansen and Roger Schweizer

In the mainstream international business literature on multinational corporations (MNCs), an authoritative central headquarter (HQ) that transfers standardised practices to its…

2121

Abstract

Purpose

In the mainstream international business literature on multinational corporations (MNCs), an authoritative central headquarter (HQ) that transfers standardised practices to its subsidiaries remains the norm. This study aims to explore how MNCs coordinate their management practices through principles.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on empirical findings from a qualitative in-depth single case study based on evidence-rich qualitative data including observations from how a high-tech MNC headquartered in Sweden coordinates its development practices.

Findings

An alternative informal coordination approach (i.e. coordination by principles) is identified. Additionally, antecedents and implications of the approach are presented.

Practical implications

Coordination by Principles may facilitate the internalisation of practices and be a feasible compromise between context adaptation and traditional standardisation, particularly for MNCs with highly heterogeneous research and development operations.

Originality/value

This paper highlights the importance of acknowledging that firm practices often are based on management ideas that HQs adopt to prevent loss of legitimacy. As such, this study contributes to the scarce literature that critically questions the assumption that HQs solely transfer practices to subsidiaries to improve subsidiary efficiency and performance.

Details

critical perspectives on international business, vol. 18 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2008

Steve Morgan

Assertive outreach is based on extensive international research and has been promoted in the UK in 1999 as a key area of the National Service Framework for Mental Health. Its…

209

Abstract

Assertive outreach is based on extensive international research and has been promoted in the UK in 1999 as a key area of the National Service Framework for Mental Health. Its primary aim is to provide a specialist service for people disengaged from traditional approaches of mental health services, but very little attention has been paid to how such services can be developed. Practice Based Evidence, a practice development consultancy, has engaged seven assertive outreach teams to focus on development first, and follow‐up evaluation of the impact of reflective practice on team functioning. This has prompted a number of strengths‐based recommendations for changing the way we think about developing services before we engage in research and evaluation.

Details

Mental Health Review Journal, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-9322

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 August 2023

Jaehong Joo, Hee Sun Kim, Sae Gyoung Song, Yun Jeong Ro and Ji Hoon Song

The purpose of this study is to emphasize the important role of performance-oriented human resource (HR) practices and gender equality perceptions in supervisors and chief…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to emphasize the important role of performance-oriented human resource (HR) practices and gender equality perceptions in supervisors and chief executive officers (CEOs) for career development among women in management.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a quantitative methodology to examine relationships among variables. The authors conducted a survey to investigate factors influencing the career development of women managers in professional settings, with a sample of 1,502 female managers in South Korea.

Findings

The relationship between performance-oriented HR practices and career development for women managers was supported. In addition, self-leadership significantly mediated the relationship between performance-oriented HR practices and career development. Finally, double moderator effects of gender equality perceptions of CEOs and supervisors on the relationship between performance-oriented HR practices and self-leadership were significant.

Originality/value

This study emphasizes that career development for women in South Korea depends on gender equality awareness and institutional reorganization for best practices at top management levels. Specifically, this study identified the essential role of performance-based HR practices to support self-leadership and career development in women managers. Furthermore, this study recognized gender equality perceptions of CEOs and supervisors as a critical factor in the successful career development of women managers.

Details

European Journal of Training and Development, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-9012

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 May 2008

Sadhvi Dar

The aim of the paper is to connect the field of health management to other related academic discourses (critical management studies and critical development studies) that can…

1647

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the paper is to connect the field of health management to other related academic discourses (critical management studies and critical development studies) that can contribute to a more interdisciplinary approach to understanding health organizations and management.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper's design is theoretical critique that blends post‐structural, critical management and critical development approaches into a focused discussion of modernity and its relevance to contemporary health management issues.

Findings

Modernity proliferates through a variety of rhetorical tropes that go unnoticed or remain invisible. Through a brief analysis of historical definitions of management and development, the findings suggest that health management could also be critiqued as a cultural and social construction, enriching anthropological studies as well as informing practical critiques of health projects in the development sector.

Research limitations/implications

The conceptualisation of health‐management as a cultural construct of modernity opens up the prospect for some rich empirical studies into what management practices support the scientific‐rational claims on which it rests.

Practical implications

The critique informs a re‐appraisal of health management practices that are often taken for granted and ritualistic parts of organizational life. Such a re‐evaluation could lead to the implementation of more nuanced and appropriate health practices.

Originality/value

Connecting management and development discourses in this way has not been done before and its relevance to health management remains under‐researched. This paper highlights the way these discourses can enrich the study of health organizations and create a truly interdisciplinary understanding of health.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

21 – 30 of over 271000