Peter Bramley and Barry Kitson
Advocates evaluation based on a framework first published in 1959 byD.L. Kirkpatrick. Argues that, while most training events are evaluatedat the reaction level, and some at the…
Abstract
Advocates evaluation based on a framework first published in 1959 by D.L. Kirkpatrick. Argues that, while most training events are evaluated at the reaction level, and some at the learning level, very few are evaluated at the levels of behaviour and results, and therefore fundamental changes are required in existing assumptions about the purpose and design of training. Discusses ways in which behavioural and business‐based evaluation criteria can be established.
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Dominiek Coates and Sharon Mickan
The embedded researcher is a healthcare-academic partnership model in which the researcher is engaged as a core member of the healthcare organisation. While this model has…
Abstract
Purpose
The embedded researcher is a healthcare-academic partnership model in which the researcher is engaged as a core member of the healthcare organisation. While this model has potential to support evidence translation, there is a paucity of evidence in relation to the specific challenges and strengths of the model. The aim of this study was to map the barriers and enablers of the model from the perspective of embedded researchers in Australian healthcare settings, and compare the responses of embedded researchers with a primary healthcare versus a primary academic affiliation.
Design/methodology/approach
104 embedded researchers from Australian healthcare organisations completed an online survey. Both purposive and snowball sampling strategies were used to identify current and former embedded researchers. This paper reports on responses to the open-ended questions in relation to barriers and enablers of the role, the available support, and recommendations for change. Thematic analysis was used to describe and interpret the breadth and depth of responses and common themes.
Findings
Key barriers to being an embedded researcher in a public hospital included a lack of research infrastructure and funding in the healthcare organisation, a culture that does not value research, a lack of leadership and support to undertake research, limited access to mentoring and career progression and issues associated with having a dual affiliation. Key enablers included supportive colleagues and executive leaders, personal commitment to research and research collaboration including formal health-academic partnerships.
Research limitations/implications
To support the embedded researcher model, broader system changes are required, including greater investment in research infrastructure and healthcare-academic partnerships with formal agreements. Significant changes are required, so that healthcare organisations appreciate the value of research and support both clinicians and researchers to engage in research that is important to their local population.
Originality/value
This is the first study to systematically investigate the enablers and challenges of the embedded researcher model.
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Liz Matykiewicz and Robert McMurray
The purpose of this paper is to consider the ways in which certain occupational, organizational and political positions become active sites of leadership construction. Taking as…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the ways in which certain occupational, organizational and political positions become active sites of leadership construction. Taking as their example the introduction of the Modern Matron in the English National Health Service (NHS) this paper considers how new forms of gender transcending leadership are constituted relationally through a dynamic interplay of historical, nostalgic, social, political and organizational forces.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted within an interpretive paradigm of social constructivism and draws on data from semi‐structured interviews with a purposive sample of 16 Modern Matrons working in a single English NHS Trust. In keeping with inductive, qualitative research practice, data has been analysed thematically and ordered using descriptive, hierarchical and relational coding.
Findings
Their contention is that the Modern Matron presents as a site for relational leadership in respect of both self and other. This paper argues that the construction of Modern Matron usefully points to the ways in which multiple discourses, practices and relations may be intertwined in defining what it is to lead in contemporary organizations. This paper highlights the extent to which leadership is an on‐going relational co‐construction based – in this instance – in the interplay of four factors: nostalgic authority, visibility, praxis and order negotiation. Together, these produce a mode of leading that is neither heroic nor popularist.
Research limitations/implications
Further research might consider how competing temporal, political and organizational imperatives encourage the development of particular sites for leadership, and how such leadership is then re‐performed in practice, as well as the affects/effect on individual and organisational performance.
Originality/value
The data provides opportunity to consider the “lived experience” of leaders in sites that are traditionally gendered female in non‐standard/public sector settings. Moreover, this paper presents empirical evidence in support of leadership as socially constructed and relational, borne of tension between different temporal, spatial and experiential factors, the on‐going negotiation of which both utilises and transcends masculinized and feminized gender performances. The result is a form of “leading” which is often subtle, difficult to identify and self‐effacing.
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Barry Quinn, Adele Dunn, Rodney McAdam, Lynsey McKitterick and David Patterson
This study explores policy and practice in relation to a peripheral rural region food support programme for small (micro) food enterprises and the impact on business development…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores policy and practice in relation to a peripheral rural region food support programme for small (micro) food enterprises and the impact on business development and innovation.
Methodology/approach
An exploratory case study methodology is employed focusing on the effectiveness of a local support programme for micro business development in the food sector, in a European Union peripheral, rural location.
Findings
The effective integration of policy and practice in the design and implementation of a public/private partnership programme can enable micro businesses to benefit from Government aid in a collective manner that would not have been possible in a Government–micro enterprise dyadic relationship.
Research limitations/implications
The study focuses on one region and on one particular support programme. However, the research highlights the potential benefits that can accrue to micro food producers, and micro companies more generally from participation in such a programme, and identifies the types of support that are particularly effective for these types of organisations. The research identifies the possibilities and challenges of applying the South Eastern Economic Development type programme to other regions.
Practical implications
The success of such support programmes depends on identifying the needs of the participants at an early stage in the programme and in tailoring training and support accordingly. There are benefits from local government working closely with private consultants as brokers for micro enterprise business development and innovation.
Social implications
Micro enterprises play key economic, social and cultural roles within their local rural community. Collectively they offer opportunities for rural employment and tourism development.
Originality/value
The chapter addresses a major gap in knowledge around the role of policies and supports in assisting business development and innovation in relation to micro size enterprises, and more specifically food micro enterprises based in peripheral, rural regions.
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Ruth Northway, Rachel Davies, Robert Jenkins and Ian Mansell
The importance and challenges in providing a good practice evidence base for adult protection are outlined. The literature search, review and mapping exercise that formed part of…
Abstract
The importance and challenges in providing a good practice evidence base for adult protection are outlined. The literature search, review and mapping exercise that formed part of the Abuse of Adults with Learning Disabilities: Policy, Practice and Educational Implications in Wales research study is detailed. The article presents examples from this evidence mapping exercise and considers the importance of adult protection research to the future development of policy and practice.
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Despite the attention being paid to business ethics, it seems the behaviour of business leaders and employees has not improved. This paper takes a different approach to…
Abstract
Despite the attention being paid to business ethics, it seems the behaviour of business leaders and employees has not improved. This paper takes a different approach to understanding why this is the case. A distinction made in the higher education literature between surface and deep approaches to learning is adapted to provide an insight into the reason for the difference between the rhetoric concerning ethics and actual business practice. It is argued that a surface approach to ethics, which is associated with self‐interest, will not promote ethical behaviour, while a deep approach, motivated by the desire to do the right thing, does have the potential to do so. The difference between the rhetoric and business practice suggests that most businesses either intentionally or unintentionally adopt a surface approach to ethics.
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This paper investigates purchasing ethics within the UK clothing retail sector in the context of structural changes in the sector and the growth of international sourcing as a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates purchasing ethics within the UK clothing retail sector in the context of structural changes in the sector and the growth of international sourcing as a necessary strategic tool to maintain competitive advantage.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper discusses the background to retailer interest in sourcing ethics and the development of codes of conduct to guide retail purchasing professionals. The primary research is an exploratory examination of the experiences of UK retail buying personnel working in the global market for garments, who are required to make decisions “on the ground” that reflect the ethical codes of their companies, yet who are also constrained by the need to make profitable sourcing decisions.
Findings
The conclusions assess what can be learnt from these experiences and offer suggestions for future research.
Originality/value
The paper is of interest to any retail academics, personnel and employees.
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Guylaine Chabot, Marie‐Pierre Gagnon and Gaston Godin
This paper aims to identify organizational readiness for change towards adoption of a redefined role of the school nurse as a strategic option in the context of a health promoting…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify organizational readiness for change towards adoption of a redefined role of the school nurse as a strategic option in the context of a health promoting school approach. This new role is consistent with planned change directed at life habits and life conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire based on a modified version of the organizational readiness for change (ORC) framework was e‐mailed to 122 top and middle managers (response rate of 74 percent) in 42 local health organizations in the Province of Quebec, Canada, during the fall of 2009.
Findings
In total, 90 percent of participants perceived the proposed role as a solution to fulfil their school health program needs, especially to plan and integrate health promotion projects. The lack of resources and nursing support emerged as factors hampering the capacity of school nurses to play such a role.
Research limitations/implications
Additional implications of the ORC framework are needed in order to better address organizational readiness for complex changes in specific health‐related settings.
Practical implications
Access to information technology and the development of computer skills would help enhance this encompassing role in health promotion.
Originality/value
Findings have the potential to better inform health authorities regarding the new role of the school nurse as a strategic option in health promotion. This study also provides an application of the theoretical framework showing the need for additional empirical tests.
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Noel Scott, Brent Moyle, Ana Cláudia Campos, Liubov Skavronskaya and Biqiang Liu