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Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 December 2021

Jeroen De Mast, Bart A. Lameijer, Kevin Linderman and Andrew Van de Ven

The purpose of this study is to discover the learning mechanisms and temporal dynamics of implementing systems (Six Sigma) as it unfolds over time.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to discover the learning mechanisms and temporal dynamics of implementing systems (Six Sigma) as it unfolds over time.

Design/methodology/approach

The data come from a European engineering company that was implementing a Six Sigma-based quality management system (QMS) over a seven-year period. The analysis is based on an event-sequence reconstruction of the implementation process as it unfolded over time and discovers four different learning mechanisms that emerged: programmatic, persistent, adaptive and dialectical learning mechanisms. The research follows a process design study, where the authors study how the process unfolds over time.

Findings

Much of the literature on implementing management systems suggests that implementation follows a prescribed sequence of “turn-key” steps. However, the findings show that only 40% of all events were driven by prescribed “turn-key” generic practices, while 56% of events required constructing new practices via adaptive and dialectical learning. Moreover, the implementation process did not proceed in a linear programmatic fashion, but instead followed a punctuated equilibrium pattern, which alternated between periods of incremental change and major organizational change. The study also found that implementation required changing many complementary organizational structures and practices that were interdependent with the management system (i.e. Six Sigma). By understanding the implementation process, managers can better assess the time and effort involved, better adapt the system to their situated context and predict critical junctures where implementation could break down.

Originality/value

This research complements the few studies that have examined the process of implementing management systems. Most studies examine factors or conditions that result in implementation success (the what of implementing systems), but few examine the process of implementation and the learning that takes place during implementation (the how of implementing systems), which is a complex nonlinear process that involves different modes of learning.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 42 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 20 January 2025

David Limond

This work concerns William Norman Illingworth [1902–1980]. Disillusioned with teaching in conventional schools and inspired by Rudolf Steiner [1861–1925] he founded Sangreal…

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Abstract

Purpose

This work concerns William Norman Illingworth [1902–1980]. Disillusioned with teaching in conventional schools and inspired by Rudolf Steiner [1861–1925] he founded Sangreal School, in 1947, and operated this until the early 1970s. Sangreal was what I describe as a “conservative alternative school”, employing methods and pursuing goals not found in most British schools of the period but, unlike avowedly progressive establishments, guided by socially conservative principles. The purposes of the work are both to rescue his/Sangreal’s story from obscurity and to encourage research to establish if other such schools have existed and, if so, to describe and analyse them in an effort to give the category conservative alternative school the recognition it properly deserves.

Design/methodology/approach

The method is a combination of life history/biography and case study of a specific school.

Findings

The story is interesting in its own terms and points to the existence of a hitherto unnoticed category in history of education.

Research limitations/implications

This work may lead to the proper recognition of a neglected category.

Originality/value

This work deals with a school hitherto unknown to most people and may lead to the recognition of a new category.

Details

History of Education Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0819-8691

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 July 2018

Jonathan Simões Freitas, Jéssica Castilho Andrade Ferreira, André Azevedo Rennó Campos, Júlio Cézar Fonseca de Melo, Lin Chih Cheng and Carlos Alberto Gonçalves

This paper aims to map the creation and evolution of centering resonance analysis (CRA). This method was an innovative approach developed to conduct textual content analysis in a…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to map the creation and evolution of centering resonance analysis (CRA). This method was an innovative approach developed to conduct textual content analysis in a semi-automatic, theory-informed and analytically rigorous way. Nevertheless, despite its robust procedures to analyze documents and interviews, CRA is still broadly unknown and scarcely used in management research.

Design/methodology/approach

To track CRA’s development, the roadmapping approach was properly adapted. The traditional time-based multi-layered map format was customized to depict, graphically, the results obtained from a systematic literature review of the main CRA publications.

Findings

In total, 19 papers were reviewed, from the method’s introduction in 2002 to its last tracked methodological development. In all, 26 types of CRA analysis were identified and grouped in five categories. The most innovative procedures in each group were discussed and exemplified. Finally, a CRA methodological roadmap was presented, including a layered typology of the publications, in terms of their focus and innovativeness; the number of analysis conducted in each publication; references for further CRA development; a segmentation and description of the main publication periods; main turning points; citation-based relationships; and four possible future scenarios for CRA as a method.

Originality/value

This paper offers a unique and comprehensive review of CRA’s development, favoring its broader use in management research. In addition, it develops an adapted version of the roadmapping approach, customized for mapping methodological innovations over time.

Details

RAUSP Management Journal, vol. 53 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2531-0488

Keywords

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