Search results

Teams are best positioned for success when certain enabling conditions are in place such as the right mix of individuals. Effective team staffing considers team members’ knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) as well as the configuration of team member KSAOs and their relations, called team composition. In practice, however, how to integrate team composition considerations into team staffing to facilitate outcomes such as team cohesion can seem nebulous. The purpose of this chapter is to describe how team member KSAOs and their configurations and relations affect team cohesion, and suggest how this information can inform team staffing. We frame team cohesion as an aspect of team human capital to understand when it may be an important consideration for staffing. We describe multilevel considerations in staffing cohesive teams. We summarize theories that link team composition to team cohesion via interpersonal attraction, a shared team identity, and team task commitment. Finally, we propose a six-step approach for staffing cohesive teams, and describe a few areas for future research.

At role conferences, high school deputy principals are continually re‐examining their role in the schools. Increasingly, in school level co‐operative evaluation programmes they are analyzing their work and its contribution to school effectiveness. This paper attempts to develop a classification that would provide a useful framework within which, at both system level and school level, they might examine their behaviour and consider modifications. From a Queensland study, five dimensions of leader behaviour are identified. They are Consideration, Classroom Facilitation, Staff Utilization, Authoritarianism and Routinisation. Other behaviours identified from the literature are Teacher Classroom Contact and School Management Maintenance tasks. These seven behaviours can involve interaction with either of two groups of people; clients and colleagues, thus providing a 14 segment grid that deputies might use to classify their behaviour when considering what they are doing in schools and what might be done better.

The purpose of this paper is to describe staffs’ perceptions of digital support for medication administration (DSM) and out of the perceptions interpret underlying values.

In total, 22 persons working in elder care participated in the study. The study had a qualitative approach and focus group interviews were used to collect data. To analyze the manifest content a phenomenographic method was used. An interpretation of perceptions was then undertaken aimed at identifying underlying values.

Three descriptive categories, “utility,” “impact on working environment” and “economic impact” were the result of the manifest analysis. The values of having a “good working environment,” “benefits” and “good economy” were interpreted as guidance for staffs’ acceptance or rejection of the DSM.

The care-giving process and its challenges from the perspective of the staffs need consideration. Staffs in this study sometimes expressed strong emotions as a sign of frustration for losing prerequisites to perform their work well. In big complex organizations where economy and effectiveness are often discussed, knowledge of power relations in innovation and implementation processes would be beneficial. Although moral distress is a well-known phenomenon, future research may be needed to find solutions that diminish this negative trend in more economic focussed organizations.

This study had a twofold approach with the intention of going beyond descriptions. To gain a deeper understanding a normative interpretation was completed. Ethical conflicts are frequently characterized as conflicts between at least two values. In this study staffs expressed fear of losing prerequisites needed to perform their work well. Prerequisites that were identified as values and these values were threatened by the DSM.

This paper reports the results of an evaluation of Human Achievement Skills training course conducted by the South Australian Education Department for 17 principals and deputies. The courses were based on a Carkhuff training model and were highly structured. Evaluation data were collected from three sources: interviews with participants three months after the completion of the courses; interviews with selected members of their staffs three months after the courses; and completion by staff of organisational climate questionnaires before the course and six months after the course. The evaluation showed significant changes in the behaviour of the principals and deputies in a number of areas of the H.A.S. course.

Discusses how the reorganization of local government, enforced by recent government legislation, has affected Humberside County Council′s leisure services department. Highlights the key issues to be addressed by library services in the reorganization process. Explains the preparations for change and new initiatives at both the corporate and departmental level aimed at improving communications during this process. Deals with service profiles, joint arrangements, budget disaggregation and staffing considerations. Explains staff transfer and recruitment procedures, with reference to statutory transfer orders (STOs) made by the Secretary of State. Concludes that the staff most involved in driving through the process of change do not have the security of being on a provisional STO, yet their positive commitment is essential if services are to be transferred effectively to new authorities.

This qualitative study considers the roles of service user consultants (SUCs) in six of the original 11 Department of Health (DH) Community Personality Disorder (PD) pilot services; how these roles differ from the active participation traditionally encouraged in therapeutic communities (TCs) around responsibility for self and others; how a service user (SU) becomes a SUC; what responsibilities they hold; the views of both staff members and SUCs on the role and the benefits and difficulties it creates; and how the role could be developed in a service‐specific and general way. It is of particular interest to consider the amount of time for which the SUC role is seen to be beneficial, and what support a SUC would need to leave the role.

Two qualitative interview schedules were developed to investigate issues highlighted in previous literature, one designed to be answered by staff members, another developed with a SUC from Cumbria for SUCs and administered by telephone. The research questions were designed to look at four main themes: How SUs become SUCs; SUC responsibilities within the service; views on the benefits and difficulties of the SUC role; and developing the role and moving forward. The context of each service was explored to reflect the uniqueness of each SUC role and service philosophy.

The SUC role continues to develop and is seen as having value, particularly as a “bridge” between SUs and staff members, and as a transitional stage in which the work of therapy can be consolidated. Problems remain in respect to: optimal levels of disclosure between other staff members and SUCs; the level and type of support needed to carry out the work and to remain well; acceptance of the role by professionals in other teams; and the extent to which SUCs are felt able to engage, or not, in direct clinical work.

This is a qualitative study in which only just over half of the pilot services agreed to take part and in which fewer SUCs were put forward to take part as compared to other staff members. There are therefore potential problems in generalising these findings to other services which employ SUCs.

Within personality disorder services there is a perceived optimal level of disclosure and information sharing between other staff members and SUCs, and between SUCs and SUs, but this remains undefined. SUC responsibilities do not always include direct clinical work because of concerns to maintain their well being. There is evidence from a number of services that SUCs can safely and creatively engage in direct clinical work given suitable support and supervision. Staff members from other teams without experience of employing SUCs may not always understand the SUC role, may denigrate the experience of SUCs, or feel threatened by their incursion into training and clinical work. SUCs seem enthusiastic to work in other areas within their wider service to promote understanding of mental health and personality difficulties. In‐service supervision/mentoring can help to monitor and alleviate SUC distress.

The paper extends knowledge about the SUC role, as it has developed and diversified during the development of the DH Community PD Pilot Sites. Novel semi‐structured interview schedules have been developed.

Sun Life Assurance Society Ltd is one of the UK's leading assurance companies, with funds exceeding £500 million. It has a national network of offices and a Head Office in London, with over 2,000 staff round the country of which approximately one half are working in Head Office. Sun Life is at the forefront of an industry that is having to change fast to meet the demands of today — and the future.

This chapter explores the contribution of The Open University (OU) Library to influencing curriculum decisions about embedding digital and information literacies in an online environment. Recommendations can be applied to higher education (HE) institutions as they develop permanent e-learning strategies to prepare for a long-term solution to online learning experiences. Learning providers are creating strategies for online content creation, student engagement, and skills development. It is an opportunity to demonstrate their value by making an effective transition to online learning, streamlining services to create student-centered experiences.

It investigates existing e-pedagogical approaches developed pre- and during the COVID-19 pandemic to embedding digital literacies in practice, drawing on the OU’s experience of developing effective frameworks for online teaching programs. The aim is to review institutional preparedness for effective transition, so that staff members and students can adapt to post-COVID realities. This draws upon student-centered, holistic design of programs to embed accessible and inclusive processes in distance learning, utilizing technological solutions to create optimal teaching and learning environments.

It will also make recommendations about how embedding digital literacies within the curriculum will equip graduates for post-education experiences within working and social contexts, by building activities into module that develop digital capabilities. For effective learning experiences to take place, institutions require development of born-digital support material to develop staff confidence and ability to produce effective, accessible online learning objects. As more organizations move to online, hybrid, and flipped learning interventions, high-level university strategy can future-proof learning design by developing the support that staff need to provide the best experiences for their learners.

This paper aims to identify more advanced criteria for identifying referral opportunities and improve understanding of when to refer through developing and defining distinct question categories and related criteria.

Chat transcripts were analyzed and coded using a rubric developed on the basis of published research and original criteria developed for the study. Coding focused on whether a referral was made, if an opportunity was missed (termed “referral gap”), and what factors influenced its presence or absence.

Quantitative and qualitative factors that influence when referrals are successfully made were identified. Questions higher on the reference effort assessment data scale and those relating to subject-based research tended to have a higher referral gap, while the presence of instruction in evaluating resources had a positive impact on referrals being made. Recognizing patron-based factors such as knowledge of library policies also impacted the presence of referrals.

Limitations include the data, which were taken from a single institution and primarily reflect questions occurring in academic libraries.

Suggestions are provided for training and reference management approaches to improve the presence, substance and quality of referrals.

The study introduces a new measure for evaluating referrals, termed the “referral gap.” The methodology also expands on traditional data points used to measure when referrals should occur, which typically focus on patron and staff affiliations.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the perceptions of Malaysian employees of ABC MSC (a Japanese company in Malaysia) in order to recommend changes in management practices.

Fieldwork was conducted using participant observation and interviews. Participant observation was conducted to investigate the flow of information, the implementation of decisions made by the top Japanese managers, problem resolution, and the reaction of the local staff to management practices. The interviews highlighted communication problems which have existed between the Japanese CEO and the local telecommunications companies since the company started operations in 1997.

Even thought the company is backed by a financially strong parent company in Japan and has a lot of growth potential, this potential remains partially untapped due to management strategies of the company headquarters.

Japan remains an important Foreign Direct Investment country in Malaysia. The perceptions of employees of Japanese companies in Malaysia are worth investigating since changes of management strategies in the home country affect the direction and operations of the overseas subsidiaries. Further research should be carried out in other Japanese companies in Malaysia.

Suggestions to improve the management strategies are discussed.

It is believed that no other Japanese company in Malaysia has been investigated in this way before. This paper's findings should be useful to many expatriate managers in Malaysia.