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Article
Publication date: 24 July 2007

Neil Blenkinsop and Annie Maddison

The purpose of this research is to examine the extent to which Belbin's team role theories are relevant and can be used to predict performance in the context of the Integrated…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to examine the extent to which Belbin's team role theories are relevant and can be used to predict performance in the context of the Integrated Project Teams (IPTs) responsible for acquisition within the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of seven IPTs across the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) and the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) completed Belbin's (1981) manual 8 Role Self Perception Inventory in order to determine their team role preferences. A team performance survey, developed by Barbara Senior in 2005, was then used to determine perceived process performance. The relationship between these two variables was examined in detail.

Findings

The results provide support to the proposition that Belbin's Team Role Theory is relevant in MoD acquisition. Certain team roles are more predominant in certain functional roles within IPTs and this duplication could have a negative impact on performance, given Belbin's assertion that “balanced” teams will perform better than “unbalanced”. The difficulties in objectively assessing team role balance (both narratively and statistically) are discussed in detail.

Research limitations/implications

Whilst a representative sample of IPTs was investigated, a longitudinal study of a more extensive sample is required to substantiate these initial findings.

Practical implications

Belbin's Team Role Theory provides a cost effective means of potentially improving performance in defence acquisition.

Originality/value

While there have been some unpublished studies into functional roles in MoD teams, there is a research lacuna with regard to the examination of team roles as a factor influencing performance in defence acquisition.

Details

Journal of Management Development, vol. 26 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0262-1711

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Publication date: 5 October 2017

Rachel Daniels and Annie Maddison Warren

The Ambridge Flower and Produce Show is the source of frequent scandals. For example, the misunderstanding that resulted in Chutneygate in 2016 caused feelings to run high…

Abstract

The Ambridge Flower and Produce Show is the source of frequent scandals. For example, the misunderstanding that resulted in Chutneygate in 2016 caused feelings to run high. However, there is also evidence of deliberate cheating. Toye (2009) records three confirmed instances between 1975 and 2008, two planned and one opportunist, along with a number of unproved allegations. According to Michaels and Miethe (1989, p. 883), ‘cheating is a general class of deviance that occurs in a variety of contexts’, whilst DeAndrea, Carpenter, Shulman, and Levine (2009) believe that it is now commonplace throughout society. Houser, Vetter, and Winter (2012, p. 1654) argue that ‘the perception of being treated unfairly by another person significantly increases an individual’s propensity to cheat’. Taken at face value, Flower and Produce Shows are charming, community-based events showcasing personal endeavour for little in the way of reward. However, both the Ambridge experience and the literature suggest that the competitive nature of the event aligned with the potential for perceived unfair treatment by the judges may mean that the likelihood of cheating is high. Given this, how representative is the Ambridge Flower and Produce Show of a real-life Flower and Produce Show? This chapter examines the emotions and behaviours that these shows engender by reviewing scholarly thinking on competition, competitive behaviour and cheating, and then comparing critical incidents at the fictional Ambridge show with evidence derived from interviews with the committee and contestants of the annual Flower and Produce Show in a small market town in Wiltshire.

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Custard, Culverts and Cake
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-285-7

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Book part
Publication date: 5 October 2017

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Custard, Culverts and Cake
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-285-7

Available. Content available
Book part
Publication date: 5 October 2017

Free Access. Free Access

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Custard, Culverts and Cake
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-285-7

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Article
Publication date: 24 March 2011

Win Tadd, Alex Hillman, Sian Calnan, Mike Calnan, Tony Bayer and Simon Read

This paper reports on an ethnographic study to explore the experience of dignity in the acute care of older people in four acute NHS trusts. It explores the prevalent view that…

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Abstract

This paper reports on an ethnographic study to explore the experience of dignity in the acute care of older people in four acute NHS trusts. It explores the prevalent view that acute care is not the right place for older people and the failure to acknowledge that the largest group of users are the very old, the frail and the dependent, which results in environments that are not friendly to older people generally, and are especially hostile to those with cognitive impairments. Added to this, a culture that is risk averse and defensive, where care is undervalued and where professional accountability and discretion are replaced by standardised checklists, pathways and audits, cultivates the attitude that if an aspect of care can't be measured it doesn't matter. Overall, getting the job done appears to matter more than how the job is done, so that the focus is primarily on the task rather than seeing the person. It describes how the failure of acute trusts to respond to the needs of the majority of their users ‐ older people ‐ results in the failure to provide dignified care and the impact of this on both the quality of care and patient outcomes.

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Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-7794

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Article
Publication date: 1 January 1903

WITH the closing years of the nineteenth century the Public Library stood in such relation to its readers as the traditional mountain did to the prophet Mahomet. While any direct…

45

Abstract

WITH the closing years of the nineteenth century the Public Library stood in such relation to its readers as the traditional mountain did to the prophet Mahomet. While any direct advertisement was in the nature of things impossible, the attitude of the library was too often that of a part of inanimate nature rather than of an intelligent mechanism which should have been in the full tide of advance. And, to maintain the metaphor, readers were suffered to obtain knowledge or amusement from its stock in much the same manner as they might have gathered blackberries from a hillside; the books were there to be taken,—if you took them judiciously, or injudiciously, or left them alone—what matter? But of late years improvement has appeared. In certain cases the progress has indeed been reluctant; some library committees and librarians, who had apparently quoted to their institutions Browning's line, “Grow old along with me,” were pushed indecently out into the open and forced to make some show (usually of the fuss and feathers order) of participation in the movement. The thrall of comparative statistics by which—like a bull's‐eye lantern, revealing the surroundings while the holder stands in darkness—one proved, not how bad he was, but how much worse his neighbours were, still held sway. It is now more abundantly realised that the public, which we have by turns feared, distrusted and ignored, is in reality and as a composite whole, of a childlike inquiring disposition, and needs, above all things, guidance—more guidance than it asks for, more perhaps than it appreciates. To every aid which the librarian offers, readers turn willingly, but it must be added that much of the reading which is done by the mass of the people is desultory, unsystematic and indiscriminating. It has no cumulative effect, nor does it lead in any definite direction. From whatever cause it arises, whether the increasing strenuousness of modern commercial conditions, or the attenuation of the national nerves, modern writers, of fiction especially, show a tendency to appeal almost exclusively to the emotions. Emotion precedes thought, and it is easy to fall into the evil habit of automatic reading, which clogs all avenues of thought and allows no appeal save through the emotions. Owing to this, the argument used against Public Libraries, that they foster a species of mental loafing, is difficult to refute. But now, “to redress the balance of the old,” to provide against this want of system, we have the National Home‐Reading Union. The objects of that body have been thus defined:—“To bring the Public Libraries into bearing.” The objection mentioned is attacked at its heart; the Union provides lists of books, encourages reading‐circles, meets and dispels incidental difficulties, and is both an educational and an examining body. The cost of member‐ship is small enough to be no deterrent to anyone, and as this is the day of cheap literature, many of the books which appear on its lists may be easily obtained. But as also there are many works of importance, which know not the cheap edition, and are thus beyond the purchasing powers of the “intelligent artisan” and his class, it follows that unless it finds a complement, the National Home‐Reading Union must remain only partial in grasp and effect. There can be no doubt that the Public Library is more fully equipped for fulfilling the absent requirements than any other institution. Not only does it interest and develop the minds of readers, but it is the only organisation which provides a wide range of books in a greater variety of subjects than could be obtained by any but the rich. Of late years many librarians, recognising the immense advantages accruing from a connection between the library and the school, have formulated plans for actively interesting the children in the library. The National Home‐Reading Union forms an admirable connecting link between these two agencies of popular education, lending aid from itself to both, and borrowing something from each to transmit to the other.

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New Library World, vol. 5 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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Article
Publication date: 5 April 2022

Khaled El-Shamandi Ahmed, Anupama Ambika and Russell Belk

This paper examines what the use of an augmented reality (AR) makeup mirror means to consumers, focusing on experiential consumption and the extended self.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines what the use of an augmented reality (AR) makeup mirror means to consumers, focusing on experiential consumption and the extended self.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employed a multimethod approach involving netnography and semi-structured interviews with participants in India and the UK (n = 30).

Findings

Two main themes emerged from the data: (1) the importance of imagination and fantasy and (2) the (in)authenticity of the self and the surrounding “reality.”

Research limitations/implications

This research focuses on AR magic makeup mirror. The authors call for further research on different AR contexts.

Practical implications

The authors provide service managers with insights on addressing gaps between the perceived service (i.e. AR contexts and the makeup consumption journey) and the conceived service (i.e. fantasies and the extended self).

Originality/value

The authors examine the lived fantasy experiences of AR experiential consumption. In addition, the authors reveal a novel understanding of the extended self as temporarily re-envisioned through the AR mirror.

Details

Journal of Service Management, vol. 34 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-5818

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Article
Publication date: 1 May 1924

In a recent article published in The Times and referring in particular to the wines of Australia and South Africa, Mr. D. F. Cranston observes that the United Kingdom offers…

35

Abstract

In a recent article published in The Times and referring in particular to the wines of Australia and South Africa, Mr. D. F. Cranston observes that the United Kingdom offers abundant opportunities to the Australian wine‐growers if they are prepared to co‐operate and pursue a courageous policy. As regards soil and climate Australia is potentially a more prolific wine‐producing country than France. Britain is the only market the Australian growers can hope to cultivate on a sufficiently large scale, and their main difficulty here is that the British people naturally tend to regard wine as the exclusive property of France, Portugal, and Spain. The Australian growers do not dispel this impression by making use of European “titles of origin” for their labels. The fact is that Australian burgundy is being sold as a substitute for the French wine, and a substitute cannot hope to supersede the article it imitates. The Australian wine may partake of the burgundy characteristics, but it is also essentially Australian, and if it were sold under a distinctive title it would soon find a public of its own, and the growers would have no difficulty in placing their agencies here. Another point worth indicating is that the public here is essentially spirit‐drinking even in its wines. Port carries all before it to‐day; yesterday it was sherry, which now takes second place in the public's favour; and Madeira would also have had its day if only it could be produced in sufficient quantities. It is useless for the Australians to clamour for the “ port label.” The trade here, backed by the Anglo‐Portuguese Treaty, is too strong. But there would be a market in England for a distinctive Australian wine of the class mentioned. The falling franc and the rising cost of the French wines also makes the market more favourably disposed to the Australian growers. The consumption of Australian wines here has shown a substantial improvement on the past three years, though the total quantity sold over the last 12 months only amounted to 52,726 gallons. Imports have been heavier lately. Last year's Australian vintage was a record.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 26 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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Article
Publication date: 14 November 2016

Lynne Porat

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selective review of current research and practice on user feedback in academic libraries. By dividing user feedback studies into four…

1111

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selective review of current research and practice on user feedback in academic libraries. By dividing user feedback studies into four categories: Library as Place, Navigation, Satisfaction, and User Experience, it aims to provide a framework for academic libraries embarking on a process of systematic user feedback.

Design/methodology/approach

By reviewing the literature on user feedback activities undertaken by several academic libraries, this paper offers insights into how users experience library services, collections, and space.

Findings

User feedback activities, particularly concerning noise and seating, are widespread in academic libraries.

Practical implications

The studies reviewed in this paper may be replicated by other libraries and used as a tool for managerial decision making.

Originality/value

The review is valuable for its analysis of the recent contributions to user feedback practice, as well as its description of the different methodologies employed and changes implemented.

Details

Performance Measurement and Metrics, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-8047

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