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1 – 10 of 74Tony Manzi, Karen Lucas, Tony Lloyd Jones and Judith Allen
Chad Joseph Rutkowski, Karen Eboch, Amelia Carr and Bertie Marie Greer
This study aims to highlight and validate the importance of strategic procurement and its value to both public and private firms. This study discusses a collaborative…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to highlight and validate the importance of strategic procurement and its value to both public and private firms. This study discusses a collaborative private-public partnership (PPP), supply chain advisory committee (SCAC), established during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to acquire personal protective equipment (PPE) and other critical supplies for a donation center in Toledo, Ohio, USA. This center serves the community and small businesses. This paper discusses the strategies, process and framework that were created to procure the needed items under a short lead time. The process of the partnership and outcomes are transferable and capable of being used by others to benefit society.
Design/methodology/approach
The case study methodology was used to investigate and summarize the actions and events of the SCAC. The case presented was tracked from the initial call to action from a local emergency response organization, Lucas County Emergency Operation Center (EOC), through the first six months of the committee’s work. Data collection was completed through a triangulation of sources.
Findings
The findings of this study reveal that public firms are vulnerable in a crisis. A crisis exposes the inequities in the supply chain and the need for public and private collaboration to use innovative procurement strategies. This study suggests that PPP procurement professionals benefit from working together. Both can learn from the limitations and benefits of collaborating.
Practical implications
This study offers a framework on how PPPs can be established to procure PPE during a crisis. This study has practical implications for private and public firms seeking to collaborate for the good of society.
Social implications
The findings of the study reveal that public firms are vulnerable in a crisis, which exposes the inequities in their supply chains. Private-public partnership (PPP) procurement professionals mutually benefit from working together as both can learn from each whether it is procuring PPE during a crisis or seeking to team up for the good of society. Society benefits when these organizations share solutions to problems rather than compete against one another during a crisis-situation such as a global pandemic. Supplies get to those who need them the most and information flows amongst the organizations to ensure equity in the availability of the supplies.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the growing body of literature that argues that public procurement must be innovative and strategic to contribute to socially responsible solutions. Government regulations require public procurement to use competitive bidding for accountability, cost reduction and to reduce fraud. However, emergency situations require innovative procurement strategies. The use of innovative procurement strategies is typical in private procurement. During a crisis, supplier relationships, lead-time management and shared and transfer of knowledge must be leveraged to acquire critical items in a timely manner. A lack of innovative public procurement strategies constrains the public and small under resourced businesses, rendering them inoperable. This paper provides a case study of an effective PPP during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper highlights the strategies, process and framework for future research and collaborations.
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In 2002/3 the Health Foundation launched an ambitious five‐year Programme of investment in leadership development. This investment included resource for simultaneous evaluation…
Abstract
In 2002/3 the Health Foundation launched an ambitious five‐year Programme of investment in leadership development. This investment included resource for simultaneous evaluation (Lucas 2006). Against a background of unprecedented upheaval in healthcare systems in the UK, the Leadership Programme has evolved, encompassing initiatives aimed both at individuals and teams. The Programme has been refined to provide a more explicit focus on leadership for quality improvement. This article reviews what has been learnt from this investment to date, focusing on lessons both for practitioners and for academics.The focus of this paper is what has been learnt from running the Foundation's three individual leadership schemes over the past three years. The authors argue that to be effective talent spotting needs to develop rigorous mechanisms for identification of potential; that there needs to be a sustained focus on quality improvement outcomes if leadership programmes are to deliver more than personal development; that the most effective development is work rather than classroom‐based; and that organisational commitment for leadership development is critical if the full impact is to be realised. The authors draw on an extensive evidence base from the Programme evaluation, including some case studies.
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I would like to ask a question first to Mr Ian Day and later on to the gentlemen representing the project KAREN‐PEWEX.
James R. Van Scotter and Karen Moustafa Leonard
The purpose is to expand our understanding of different organizational group interactions in crises and extend the Competing Values Framework of organizational culture into three…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose is to expand our understanding of different organizational group interactions in crises and extend the Competing Values Framework of organizational culture into three first responder groups – firefighters, police and emergency medical technicians. Because unique organizational culture is a critical element in the success or failure of any organization, when organizations combine during crisis, failure often results. The authors examined the cultures of first responders in a crisis to determine whether differences in cultural type might explain some failures.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the Competing Values Framework for organizational culture, the authors examined literature on the three first responder cultures. The literature is available on the failure of these organizations to work together in crisis, but little on the deep organizational reasons for these failures.
Findings
In view of the different challenges each profession faces and ways they organize to address those challenges, self-directed coordination of these three distinct groups may be optimal, rather than an overall system of command and control. This can be visualized when the authors examine the three cultures using the Competing Values Framework. The authors discuss specific reasons for problems in crisis coordination and give suggestions on coping with three or more different cultures.
Research limitations/implications
This is a literature review and conceptual paper. A meta-analysis of incidences would be helpful.
Practical implications
When disparate organizations work together, culture may interfere with cooperation and coordination. Taking organizational culture into account will enable operations with less friction. In this paper, the authors explain why.
Social implications
Lack of cooperation and coordination among firefighters, police and EMTs could create loss of life or property. Understanding potential cultural differences will help the disparate groups work together better.
Originality/value
The authors examine organizational culture differences in detail as a reason for the failures of coordination of first responders in crisis. In addition, the authors extend the Competing Values Framework to these essential groups of first responders. The authors are the first to propose a taxonomy of culture for these three groups, based on the Competing Values Framework.
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Christine Danner, Katie Freeman, Samantha Friedrichsen and Dana Brandenburg
The purpose of this paper is to describe and compare the health behaviors of Karen youth with that of the other subpopulation seen at a Minnesota clinic.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and compare the health behaviors of Karen youth with that of the other subpopulation seen at a Minnesota clinic.
Design/methodology/approach
Demographic information and data on health status, recommended health behaviors and goal-setting patterns were collected via a review of the medical records of patients seen at a family medicine residency clinic in St Paul, Minnesota during a one-year period (July 2015–June 2016). Data were summarized using descriptive statistics. Data on Karen patients were compared with data on other populations.
Findings
The study included 765 youths aged 3–17 years. The Karen youth in the study engaged in recommended health behaviors more frequently than their peers on almost every measure. There were statistically significant differences in the amount of sleep, intake of fruits and vegetables, screen time, number of active days per week and consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks between the Karen and their peers overall. Karen youth also reported consuming fewer sweets and fried or processed food than their peers, and they had lower BMI percentiles than other youth.
Research limitations/implications
The study relied on participant self-report, which is subject to potential inaccuracies in recall and reporting.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study detailing health behaviors of Karen youth in the USA. The findings suggest a window of opportunity to support and empower Karen families to maintain healthy habits in order to prevent the development of chronic disease in this community.
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David Littlefair, Joanne Clifford Swan and Karen Hudson
External partnerships are crucial to the functioning of a university education department. The purpose of this paper is to explore the underpinning characteristics of such…
Abstract
Purpose
External partnerships are crucial to the functioning of a university education department. The purpose of this paper is to explore the underpinning characteristics of such partnerships. It examines different types of partnerships from those in initial teacher education, to continuing professional development to international. Evidence-based data are gathered from both external partners and university staff who deal with partnership. Softer skills and intellectual kingship are identified as the fundamental drivers of partnership and the subsequent implications for universities are examined.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to explore the nature of these partnerships, a qualitative approach was essential as the focus was in the motives and perspectives of the authors’ partners, the authors’ colleagues and the university as a corporate entity. To this end, questionnaires were designed for use with a broad range of teacher education partners. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with university-based colleagues involved in a range of these partnership activities.
Findings
The institutional reputation on its own does not appear to be the main driver for partnership and as such, the partner bases their decisions and judgements upon the relationship and discussions with the link person they deal with. In turn, those key actors in the university education department also see the wider university as an inhibitor and constraint upon partnership but maintain their relationships by drawing on autonomous forms of professionalism. Thus, intellectual kinship, collegiality and common goals may be argued as key to generating successful external relationships.
Practical implications
It is important to note that a business relationship which relies on an individual is fragile; people move, become ill and change roles. Clear strategies are essential for succession planning across all such partnerships in an institution, if they are to avoid the potential financial and reputational repercussions arising from unplanned change.
Originality/value
This study highlights the significance of effective communication between the department establishing the partnership and those responsible for broader managerial and administrative systems in the institution, as well as the potential importance of shared values across departments in respect of supporting and maintaining international partnerships. Further, institutions should recognise the fundamental importance of the link person, in terms of the boundary-spanning nature of the role, the importance to that role of intellectual kinship and the potential this has for the development of new or expanded relationships.
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The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the history and development of transaction log analysis (TLA) in library and information science research. Organizing a…
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the history and development of transaction log analysis (TLA) in library and information science research. Organizing a literature review of the first twenty‐five years of TLA poses some challenges and requires some decisions. The primary organizing principle could be a strict chronology of the published research, the research questions addressed, the automated information retrieval (IR) systems that generated the data, the results gained, or even the researchers themselves. The group of active transaction log analyzers remains fairly small in number, and researchers who use transaction logs tend to use this method more than once, so tracing the development and refinement of individuals' uses of the methodology could provide insight into the progress of the method as a whole. For example, if we examine how researchers like W. David Penniman, John Tolle, Christine Borgman, Ray Larson, and Micheline Hancock‐Beaulieu have modified their own understandings and applications of the method over time, we may get an accurate sense of the development of all applications.