Eric Emerson, Janet Robertson, Nicky Gregory, Chris Hatton, Sophia Kessissoglou, Angela Hallam, Martin Knapp, Krister Järbrink, Ann Netten and Patricia Walsh
This paper provides an overview of the main results of a Department of Health‐funded research project which investigated the quality and costs of residential supports for people…
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of the main results of a Department of Health‐funded research project which investigated the quality and costs of residential supports for people with learning disabilities. The main findings were that the adjusted costs of community‐based supports were higher than residential campuses and village communities; within community‐based provision there were no statistically significant differences between the adjusted costs of supported living, small group homes and group homes for 4‐6 people; community‐based provision and village communities offered better care than residential campuses; there appeared to be distinct benefits associated with community‐based provision and village communities; within community‐based provision there were benefits associated with smaller size and supported living arrangements.
Paul Cambridge, John Carpenter, Jennifer Beecham, Angela Hallam, Martin Knapp, Rachel Forrester‐Jones and Alison Tate
This paper reports on the key findings of a study into the outcomes and costs of community care for a large cohort of people with learning disabilities, supported in 12 study…
Abstract
This paper reports on the key findings of a study into the outcomes and costs of community care for a large cohort of people with learning disabilities, supported in 12 study sites across England, who left various long‐stay hospital 12 years ago as part of a centrally monitored and evaluated government policy initiative on deinstitutionalisation. It represents the last follow‐up of a raft of linked longitudinal evaluations, conducted at four time points over a twelve‐year period. The paper identifies the findings from the last follow‐up and interprets and presents them as summary observations and trends in relation to the findings in learning disability, briefly reviewing them in relation to wider evidence on deinstitutionalisation and community care in England.
Jacki Gordon and Cameron Stark
Scotland has developed a national suicide prevention strategy, Choose Life, as part of a wider programme of mental health promotion and mental illness prevention. This paper…
Abstract
Scotland has developed a national suicide prevention strategy, Choose Life, as part of a wider programme of mental health promotion and mental illness prevention. This paper reports findings from a survey of Choose Life co‐ordinators, who are based in each local authority area and supported by a central team. The survey sought their views on progress, and achieved an 85% response rate. Co‐ordinators identified challenges in promoting suicide prevention in a policy‐rich environment with many competing priorities, in persuading local agencies to provide mainstream rather than project funds, and in keeping up‐to‐date with national and international research findings. The responses by the national team to these identified challenges are outlined.
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Judie M. Gannon, Liz Doherty and Angela Roper
This article aims to explore how understanding the challenges faced by companies' attempts to create competitive advantage through their human resources and HRM practices can be…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to explore how understanding the challenges faced by companies' attempts to create competitive advantage through their human resources and HRM practices can be enhanced by insights into the concept of strategic groups within industries. Based within the international hotel industry, this study identifies how strategic groups emerge in the analysis of HRM practices and approaches. It sheds light on the value of strategic groups as a way of readdressing the focus on firm and industry level analyses.
Design/methodology/approach
Senior human resource executives and their teams across eight international hotel companies (IHCs) were interviewed in corporate and regional headquarters, with observations and the collection of company documentation complementing the interviews.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that strategic groups emerge from analysis of the HRM practices and strategies used to develop hotel general managers (HGMs) as strategic human resources in the international hotel industry. The value of understanding industry structures and dynamics and intermediary levels of analysis are apparent where specific industries place occupational constraints on their managerial resources and limit the range of strategies and expansion modes companies can adopt.
Research limitations/implications
This study indicates that further research on strategic groups will enhance the theoretical understanding of strategic human resource management and specifically the forces that act to constrain the achievement of competitive advantage through human resources. A limitation of this study is the dependence on the human resource divisions' perspectives on realising international expansion ambitions in the hotel industry.
Practical implications
This study has implications for companies' engagement with their executives' perceptions of opportunities and threats, and suggests companies will struggle to achieve competitive advantage where such perceptions are consistent with their competitors.
Originality/value
Developments in strategic human resource management have relied on the conceptual and theoretical developments in strategic management, however, an understanding of the impact of strategic groups and their shaping of SHRM has not been previously explored.
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Judie Gannon, Angela Roper and Liz Doherty
The international hotel industry's growth has been achieved via the simultaneous divestment of real estate portfolios and adoption of low risk or “asset light” market entry modes…
Abstract
Purpose
The international hotel industry's growth has been achieved via the simultaneous divestment of real estate portfolios and adoption of low risk or “asset light” market entry modes such as management contracting. The management implications of these market entry mode decisions have however been poorly explored in the literature and the purpose of this paper is to address these omissions.
Design/methodology/approach
Research was undertaken with senior human resource executives and their teams across eight international hotel companies (IHCs). Data were collected by means of semi‐structured interviews, observations and the collection of company documentation.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that management contracts as “asset light” options for international market entry not only provide valuable equity and strategic opportunities but also limit IHCs' chances of developing and sustaining human resource competitive advantage. Only where companies leverage their specific market entry expertise and develop mutually supportive relationships with their property‐owning partners can the challenges of managing human resources in these complex and diversely owned arrangements be surmounted.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation of this paper is the focus on the human resource specialists' perspectives of the impact of internationalization through asset light market entry modes.
Originality/value
This paper presents important insights into the tensions, practices and implications of management contracts as market entry modes which create complex inter‐organisational relationships subsequently shaping international human resource management strategies, practices and competitive advantage.
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This chapter will begin by exploring the importance for people living with dementia of maintaining a sense of self or ‘personhood’, and how this is linked directly to wellbeing…
Abstract
This chapter will begin by exploring the importance for people living with dementia of maintaining a sense of self or ‘personhood’, and how this is linked directly to wellbeing. It will chart how the initial pilot projects were developed to embrace older people living with a dementia diagnosis, and how we teamed up with different partners in Brazil and on Merseyside, showing how the methodology outlined in the toolkit can be used to foster this sense of self or ‘personhood’. In both geographical locations it proved vital to establish contacts with enthusiastic partners and to work closely with occupational therapists and/or nursing home staff. On Merseyside we also benefitted from the expertise of a local community cinema which had extensive experience of running dementia-friendly film screenings. Finally, drawing on concrete results from the use of the toolkit's methodology in a recent project that Lisa conducted in Brazil, this chapter will present some conclusions about how music and film can help carers connect with the person living with dementia, and be used as a powerful tool for restoring a sense of personhood, thus increasing a sense of wellbeing and improving the quality of care.
Christopher Pich, Guja Armannsdottir, Dianne Dean, Louise Spry and Varsha Jain
There are explicit calls for research devoted to how political actors present their brand to the electorate and how this is interpreted. Responding to this, the purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
There are explicit calls for research devoted to how political actors present their brand to the electorate and how this is interpreted. Responding to this, the purpose of this paper is to build an understanding of how political brand messages and values are received and aligned with voter expectations, which in turn shapes the consistency of a political brand.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an interpretivist perspective, this two-stage approach first focuses on semi-structured interviews with internal stakeholders of the UK Conservative Party and second uses focus group discussions with external stakeholders (voters) of age 18-24 years. Data was collected between 1 December 2014 and 6 May 2015.
Findings
The findings suggest that the UK Conservative brand had recovered from the “nasty party” reputation. Further, the Conservative brand was perceived as credible, trustworthy and responsible, with positive associations of “economic competence”. However, while the nasty party imagery has declined, the UK Conservative brand continues to face challenges particularly in terms of longstanding negative associations perceived by both internal and external markets.
Research limitations/implications
It must be acknowledged that all research methods have their own limitations, and acknowledging these will strengthen the ability to draw conclusions. In this study, for example, due to time constraints during the election campaign period, 7 participants supported stage one of the study and 25 participants supported stage two of the study. However, participants from stage one of the study represented all three elements of the UK Conservative Party (Parliamentary, Professional and Voluntary). In addition, the elite interviews were longer in duration and this provided a greater opportunity to capture detailed stories of their life experiences and how this affected their brand relationship. Similarly, participants for stage two focussed on young voters of age 18-24 years, a segment actively targeted by the UK Conservative Party.
Practical implications
The brand alignment framework can help practitioners illuminate components of the political brand and how it is interpreted by the electorate. The increasing polarisation in politics has made this a vital area for study, as we see need to understand if, how or why citizens are persuaded by a more polarised brand message. There are also social media issues for the political brand which can distort the carefully constructed brand. There are opportunities to evaluate and operationalize this framework in other political contexts.
Originality/value
The brand alignment model extends current branding theory first by building on an understanding of the complexities of creating brand meaning, second, by operationalizing differences between the brand and how it is interpreted by the electorate, finally, by identifying if internal divisions within the political party pose a threat to the consistency of the brand.